Chemical Reaction
by CranesWing
Summary: What happens when the penguins are taken captive and forced to fight one another? Will they be able to take down their own teammates? Will this change the penguin team dynamic forever?
1. New Arrival

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Skipper was surrounded. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, his flippers up and at the ready, and his heels were slightly off the ground so he could move fast when it became necessary.

"Steady, men," Kowalski said.

Rico chuckled and coughed up a chainsaw and brandished it with a wild look in his eyes.

Private looked around nervously. "You sure you want to do this, Skipper?"

"If you three think you can take me down, then you're dreaming," Skipper replied with a smile.

"Now!" Kowalski ordered.

Rico and Private both jumped at Skipper at the same time. Skipper simply stepped aside and caught Rico under one flipper, causing the chainsaw to shake uncontrollably towards Private, who squeaked and ran in the opposite direction. Skipper reached over for Rico's other flipper to disarm him, which also caused him to go off-balance, and Skipper easily pushed him aside. While Skipper's back was turned, Kowalski jumped forward to attack, knocking Skipper to the ground. Private started back towards them, but the struggling pair rolled towards him and he couldn't move out of the way and he was bowled over.

Skipper turned so Kowalski's back was to him and he reached around his neck. Kowalski blocked the choke, broke free, rolled away and got to his feet while Skipper did the same. Rico and Private got to their feet and started towards them when Kowalski held up a flipper.

"He's mine," Kowalski said.

Kowalski's eyes were glued to Skipper's and vice-versa. They circled each other, their fins up on guard. A slow smirk spread across Skipper's face, which caused Kowalski's concentrated frown to deepen. Skipper went to move forward, which made Kowalski flinch back, and then Skipper lunged forward for real. He went to kick, but Kowalski blocked and countered with a punch. Skipper faded back and moved forward again, Kowalski met his attack with a block, and so it went; attack, block, counterattack, the two moving lightly on their feet, their flippers flashing as they struck.

Suddenly Kowalski felt his feet being swept out from under him, the air left his lungs as his back hit the ground hard, and it became even more difficult to breathe when a weight settled on him and he was pinned to the floor.

"Game, set, match," Skipper said with a smile.

Kowalski sighed. "I give."

Skipper stood and offered a flipper to help Kowalski up. "Not bad, team, but it still needs work."

"We attacked you with everything we got, Skipper," Private protested slightly.

Skipper gave the younger penguin a look. "You hold back. You practice that with us, it'll happen during missions. What if you had to take one of us out?"

Private only frowned at his superior.

"Rico, rely on something other than that chainsaw. It's becoming predictable."

"Uh, uh," Rico said with a salute.

"And Kowalski, not a bad assault, you just need to work on your grappling skills a bit more."

"Thank you, sir."

"Hey guys!" Marlene said brightly.

"Intruder!" Skipper shouted.

Rico wasted no time and in a blur of motion, he had Marlene pinned to the ground in the same way Skipper had just had Kowalski.

"Good work, Rico," Skipper said.

"Um, Skipper, it's just Marlene," Private said.

"Oh."

"Get off of me, Rico," Marlene said, shoving the penguin away.

"Marlene, you should know better than to sneak up on us," Skipper said.

The otter rolled her eyes as she stood. "I know, I should remember that this is the raging paranoia habitat."

"What's going on, Marlene?" Private asked.

"Oh, right, well do you guys remember the new habitat that they were building? It's going to be part of this huge experiment on repopulating lobster communities."

The four penguins exchanged a look.

"Hm, sounds a bit odd, then again, humans have proven themselves to be quite the odd species many a time," Skipper said.

"I suggest we get a full intel of the new habitat," Kowalski said, scribbling on his notepad. He turned it around to show the others his sketch.

"Let's move out, men."

Marlene sighed as the four belly-slide out the door.

"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to end well?" Marlene said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The four penguins made their way to the new habitat. They peeked around a corner at the tarp that covered it.

"Okay, time for recon, gentlemen. Private, you and Rico take the right flank, Kowalski, the left, I got center. Let's do it!" Skipper ordered.

The four took off to their targets and signaled when they were in position. Skipper glanced to his sides before giving his own and the four slipped under the tarp.

The habitat seemed to be much like their own, mainly water, and random rocks jutted out of the water to allow the lobsters to rest and sun themselves during the day. There was a larger, flat rock in the center where a group of lobsters seemed to be sleeping.

Skipper waved another signal to his men and they all swam silently to a rock.

"Analysis," Skipper whispered.

"So far it seems to be a simple lobster habitat, Skipper," Kowalski said, pulling out a device. It scanned the area and showed radar picture of the habitat. "Its size indicates that it can hold about thirty lobsters, and so far about ten are present. There are a total of thirteen rocks and the water is roughly ten feet deep."

"They're all sleeping on the rock over there," Private said, pointing at the sleeping lobsters.

"Well, perhaps it's time we introduced ourselves to our new neighbors, eh?" Skipper said.

"Aw, but Skipper, they're sleeping, can't we meet them in the morning?" Private asked.

"A morning rendezvous would decrease any hasty misunderstandings and also decrease any of our chances of meeting the wrong end of those claws," Kowalski agreed.

"Uh huh, owwwww," Rico said, rubbing his backside.

"Oh, all right," Skipper said. "We'll meet with them at eight hundred hours. Tomorrow's Sunday so the zoo is opening later."

The penguins slipped out of the habitat, the watchful eye of a camera following them out unnoticed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: -scratches back of her head nervously- Okay, gave in to the urge to write a fanfic for this fandom, so, here I am. Reviews are always nice and much appreciated (it fuels me to continue writing, seriously), and will update as soon as I can!


	2. Suprise Assault

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As the elite penguin force walked back to their base, Private shuffled his feet, moving a little slower than the others. Rico noticed and hung back.

"Wha?" Rico muttered at him, his eyes conveying his worry.

"Oh, I'm just thinking about what Skipper said, about what if one day we had to fight each other for real, I just can't imagine-"

Rico stopped and put his flippers on Private's shoulders. "Rah, rat whaa nana uh!"

Private smiled. "You're right, Rico, nothing like that would ever happen. I'm sure we'd rather take ourselves out than hurt our friends."

Rico nodded. "Uh huh!

The two shared a smile and waddled quickly to catch up with the others.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, the penguins, along with the other zoo animals, gathered around the brand new lobster habitat to welcome the new animals.

Skipper kept his distance; the others noticed and waddled towards him.

"What's wrong, Skipper?" Private asked.

"I don't like this," Skipper said. "Those lobsters seem, familiar, somehow, but-"

"I think you're just having bad memory flashbacks," Kowalski said, but then he shuddered uncomfortably. "Though I don't think I can blame you."

"Yeah, yeah," Rico said with a nod.

"I dunno," Skipper murmured.

"Aw, come on, Skipper, come and meet them, you'll see, they're friendly!" Private said.

The others followed Private to the rock where the lobsters were laying. Most of the other zoo animals were starting back for their habitats; the lemurs were trying to get some of the lobsters to dance and Marlene was talking to them about the zoo layout.

"Come on, I'll introduce you guys to Hal," Private said.

Skipper glanced around suspiciously. Most of the lobsters looked bored, some of them glanced around sneakily, or maybe they were just as suspicious of their new surroundings as Skipper was of them. Whatever it was, it didn't put the commanding penguin at ease.

"Guys, this is Hal," Private said, indicating the only lively looking lobster of the group. "Hal, these are my friends, Kowalski and Rico, and this is Skipper."

Hal waved a claw, and Skipper felt like his brain hit a brick wall. But before he could say anything, a piercing shriek and a passing shadow was the only warning before a red and brown blur swooped from the sky and all who were present ducked for cover.

"Ahhhh!!!" Mort cried.

"Help! I am being king-napped! Again!"

Everyone looked up and watched a falcon carry off King Julien.

"Oh, no!" Maurice cried.

"Men! Execute Ringtail Scenario Bravo Alpha! Let's go, go, go!" Skipper ordered.

Skipper, Rico, and Private leaped into formation, or rather Kowalski tried to, but a searing pain around his ankle stopped him and he fell flat on his stomach.

"Ah, so you're Kowalski," Hal the lobster said with a grin.

The tall penguin desperately tried to kick at the lobster, but was only rewarded with pain as the lobster's claw tightened. He couldn't help crying out.

"Kowalski!" Skipper gasped when he realized he was down one soldier.

"Kowalski! Hal, what are you doing?" Private yelled, turning and running towards him.

"Private, don't break formation!" Skipper ordered.

Kowalski clamped his beak shut as the lobster claw sliced through the scales on his leg, refusing to give the crustacean the satisfaction of a pained noise. He could see the other lobsters moving in to cut the other three off. He still twisted and tried to regain his freedom despite the pain, even as the lobster dragged him towards the water.

"Rico, rope!" Skipper ordered.

While Rico worked on providing the rope, Private felt rooted to the spot in horror.

"Aw, don't worry about your buddy, birdy."

Private turned to the voice and found a bright orange and blue frog sitting next to him.

"But, wha, Kowalski, he just-" Private stammered. "I feel so helpless!"

"Don't worry, you're plenty helpful," Barry said, reaching over to pat Private on the foot.

Private gasped at the touch, realizing what was happening too late, he fell to the ground as yellowish-green boils spread over his body.

"Huh, you don't know what it's like to be poisoned by a dart frog, do you? But your friends did," Barry smiled at him. "It's nothing personal, birdy, but that makes it four to one, me. I win."

The habitat was in chaos; the remaining two lemurs hopped from one foot to the other, worried about their king, any remaining zoo animals scattered, the lobster barrier between the three penguins and Hal and Kowalski was strong, and the paralyzed Private went unnoticed.

Suddenly the habitat went silent as something rose from the water near where Hal had dragged Kowalski. Skipper dropped the rope, his blue eyes widening at the rising, grey, rounded figure.

"No," Skipper muttered.

"Oh, yes, my dear peng-gyu-wins, Dr. Blowhole has returned for his revenge!" the dolphin cackled maniacally.

"My old nemesis," Skipper growled. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"What, you weren't listening? I'm here to get my revenge on you and I found a few others who also wanted some payback," the enraged dolphin explained. "Now, if you don't mind, Kowalski and Private are coming with me."

"Forget it!" Kowalski growled at him, still struggling.

"Now, now, if you go wiggling about, you'll lose your foot, and I like my victims to be in fairly good health," Dr. Blowhole said. He brandished a syringe needle and plunged it into Kowalski's rump.

"Ah!" Kowalski cried. "I understand why, but why-"

His voice faltered as warmth spread over his body. The world around him spun, his vision blurred, he felt as if he was going to be sick to his stomach until finally unconsciousness claimed him.

"Now, as I was saying, Kowalski and Private are coming with me!" Dr. Blowhole repeated.

"Private?" Skipper looked over to see that the lobsters had secured a net around the young soldier and a hidden door in the rock opened under him.

"Uh, uh!" Rico grunted, the rest of the rope falling from his mouth as he pointed back at Dr. Blowhole.

The dolphin bent and took Kowalski's limp body into his mouth before diving back in the water.

"Rico, secure Private! I'll go after Kowalski!" Skipper ordered.

Rico coughed up a grappling hook and slide into the hole. Skipper dove into the water, following the dolphin's trail.

The water was two times deeper in the habitat than Kowalski's device had said. He wondered where the dolphin could have gotten inside, but soon he had his answer. A gaping hole on the far back wall of the habitat was the answer and Skipper could only guess where it could lead to. He swam faster, determined to catch up before Dr. Blowhole reached his exit, but even the slick swimming penguin wasn't fast enough to catch up to the stronger sea mammal. He slipped through the hole and a gate crashed down behind him. Skipper shook the bars, kicked at them, swiped his flippers at them, and tried to do something other than helplessly watch the disappearing trail of the one who kidnapped one of his soldiers. However, the realization that there was nothing he could do sank in regardless.

Rico's luck wasn't much better and his rescue mission failed quickly. He dove down the hall after Private right after he secured a grappling hook on the side of the hole to ensure a way back out. He tried to make his body as straight as possible so he could catch up, but a door closed after Private and Rico crashed into the metal. He groaned at the pain bursting in his head, but he groaned even more when he knew that Private was gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Umm… yeah, well…. ::runs to go hide under a desk – has had way too much experience leaving evil cliffhangers and awaits the onslaught::


	3. Interrogations

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm not going to lie to you, Rico, the situation looks bad," Skipper said.

"Uh huh," Rico muttered, holding a block of ice on his head.

"We're down two men, and what's more, our worst enemy has them and we have no clues as to where they went."

"Uh, uh," Rico said with a grin and shaking his head.

Skipper watched with a raised eyebrow as Rico jumped up and went topside for a moment, then he came back with Maurice, Mort, and a certain poison dart frog in a jar.

"Ah, witnesses," Skipper smiled. "Nice work, Rico."

Rico saluted.

Skipper walked up to the lemurs. "Okay, you two saw what happened to ringtail, so spill."

Mort curled into a ball and cried.

"It was that falcon again!" Maurice said.

"Ms. Kitka?"

"No, it was that other falcon!"

"Oh, right, almost forgot about him," Skipper glanced over at the jar and glared at the frog inside. "And you, I thought you and Private were buddies. Why the sudden turn around?"

Barry just glared and turned away. Skipper picked up the jar and shook it.

"Hey! Hey! Take it easy, take it easy!" Barry cried out. "I surrender, I surrender!"

"Then talk!" Skipper said, bringing the jar close to his eyes.

Barry shook his head, waiting for his brain to stop rattling. "Look, I sort of didn't want to do it. I like Private's hugs. But I was told that if I helped catch him, I would get my own army of lobsters to be my slaves. How could I refuse?"

"You could refuse to save a friend!" Maurice growled at him.

"The lemur has a point," Skipper mumbled. "I ought to hold you as a prisoner of war."

Skipper put the jar aside, too disgusted to look at the frog.

"Uh, rah wah na ra," Rico mumbled.

"So far I have an angry frog that helped a deranged dolphin in exchange for an army. Said deranged dolphin also has my scientist. But why would the falcon come after ringtail again and is he working with Dr. Blowhole?" Skipper paced, thinking hard, but going nowhere.

"Skipper! Skipper!" a voice called from above.

"Ms. Kitka?" Skipper scuttled up top to find the female falcon circling above.

"Yes," she swooped down and landed in front of him. "There has been word about a falcon coming here to take a lemur."

"How do you know about that?" Maurice asked, also climbing out of the penguin headquarters.

"We falcons are a fairly tight network since there aren't very many of us. But my friend whose sister's cousin's boyfriend's brother's next door neighbor said that there was a falcon who had spoken with a dolphin and the zoo was mentioned, so I wanted to come and warn Skipper to be aware of a possible falcon attack."

"Sorry to say this, but your warning came too late."

"Oh, no."

Skipper began pacing. "I don't get it, what madness has that deranged dolphin involved in now?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ugh, my head," Kowalski murmured. He pushed himself up off the cold metal floor and a ring of pain circled from his back, around his left side and across his belly. "Ow, my body," he glanced down to find a trail of rounded indents. He stood, then collapsed and he grasped at his ankle. "Gah, my ankle!"

He sat down again and touched the torn flesh tenderly with a wince. He felt his head spin again as the events came back to him. Julien being kidnapped, the lobster grabbing his foot, the other lobsters moving in on his team, being dragged towards the water, a grey and blue round shape rising…

"Uh oh," Kowalski murmured.

"Oh, yes, little pen-gyu-in," Dr. Blowhole said, making his presence known.

Kowalski turned to the voice to find the evil dolphin on his hover-scooter, leering at him from outside his prison. Kowalski took the moment to glance around him; he was being held in what was little more than a thick, plastic box, he could see just past the dolphin where in another box, Private was still paralyzed and on the other side of the room in a birdcage was King Julien. Kowalski couldn't see much besides the lemur's signature ringed tail, he guessed he was tied and gagged.

"What do you want with us?" Kowalski asked.

"My dear Kowalski, I thought a fellow scientific mind would appreciate the workings of my revenge against you, your team, and that insufferable land mammal."

Kowalski scoffed. "Don't you dare put me on your level."

"Oh, you're right, I do apologize, and I'll try to dumb it down for you."

Kowalski growled at him.

Dr. Blowhole turned away from him to hover towards Private. Kowalski pulled himself to the edge so he could bang on the side of the box, testing for weakness but finding nothing. He stood, ignoring the pain of his leg, and banged harder, even though it was futile as the dolphin moved closer to his friend and even harder when he saw him pull out a syringe.

"What are you going to do?" Kowalski demanded.

"Poison dart frog poison is quite uncomfortable. I have isolated a cure for it so instead of healing in a few days, this little penguin will be ready and willing for duty in a few hours," Dr. Blowhole explained.

"As if I'm going to believe a psychopath like you."

However, Kowalski could only watch helplessly as Dr. Blowhole opened up the top of Private's prison and sink the needle into his back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kitka flew high above Manhattan with the handle of a pail clutched in her claws. Inside the bucket were Skipper and Rico.

"Okay, Rico, we don't have any time to be subtle," Skipper said.

Rico nodded vigorously. "Rah."

"Right, so as soon as Kitka finds that falcon, we're going to jump him and make him tell us where he took the boys and Ringtail."

Rico nodded again, pounding a fist into his flipper.

"Kitka, status report!" Skipper called up.

"ETA forty seconds," Kitka glanced down at the two penguins with an easy smile, but was a little annoyed that Skipper didn't return it. But she supposed that he had other things on his mind. Two of his soldiers were gone and so was one of his friends, after all.

Skipper peeked over the edge of the bucket, the roof of the skyscraper in sight. As they got closer, he could see a familiar, dark figure flexing broad wings on one corner of the roof.

"Get ready, Rico," Skipper murmured over his shoulder.

Rico nodded with a growl, shifting his weight so he could jump out on Skipper's mark.

They flew closer and closer, the figure growing.

"Ready… Steady… Now!"

Kitka swung the bucket, allowing the penguins to slip out and fly directly at the back of the falcon. Feather flews, a few cries of surprise, and within a few heart-pounding moments, the penguins had the falcon lying on the roof, unable to fly.

"What did you do to me?" the deep, gruff voice of the falcon spat.

Rico held up a bear-shaped squeeze bottle.

"With that honey stuck to your wings, you're grounded," Skipper said, folding his flippers behind his back while he paced in front of the falcon. "You swooped into the Central Park Zoo and took off with a lemur. I demand that you tell me where you took him!"

The falcon smirked. "Oh yeah, you and what army?"

"Rico?"

Rico coughed up a pair of sharp-looking scissors.

"I have no problem clipping your wings and grounding you permanently."

The falcon shifted uncomfortably, though he couldn't get far since the honey was making his feathers stick to the roof and it was pulling at his skin. Skipper gave Rico a look and Rico moved with an insane giggle to the edge of a wing and snapped the scissors close to a wing tip. The falcon squeaked in horror.

"You, you wouldn't! It's against the law!"

Skipper moved forward and jumped onto the falcons chest, which was the only part not covered in honey.

"Right now, mister, I am the law. Rico."

Rico giggled maniacally again and positioned the scissors over a feather.

"Okay! Okay! I'll talk! Just don't get too excited!"

Skipper gave Rico a smirk before glaring back at the falcon.

"I'm all ears."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	4. Rude Awakening

Author's Note: Hey guys, just a but of a heads up, this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, sorry ^_^ And for those of you who have reviewed and put this story on alert, thanks! The reviews make me feel all cute and cuddly XD

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kowalski limped about his small prison, his eyes on Private. As time went by, he could see the boils reduce, and about five minutes before, he was sure Private shuddered a little in his sleep.

He couldn't figure out what Dr. Blowhole was up to. Why would he be healing Private? Why would the dolphin spare him the pain? Kowalski couldn't help a grumble of annoyance, because while Private got a cure for dart frog poison, Kowalski was stuck with an injured leg.

The penguin's thoughts were interrupted by the loud slam of a door and the whirring of the hover scooter.

"So, how are my little guests?" Dr. Blowhole said. Kowalski just sneered at him. "Oh, I suppose you are feeling a little lonely. I think we can fix that, as soon as I confirm Private's progression."

The dolphin made his way over to the other penguin, Kowalski could only feel his stomach turn, if he had teeth he would grit them, and pounded on the wall of his cage.

"Don't you put your filthy flippers near him!" Kowalski yelled.

Dr. Blowhole ignored him and reached into Private's cage, gripped the penguin behind his neck and lifted him out. Private's beak twitched slightly, but he remained limp and mostly still. Dr. Blowhole brought him to a bigger cage and unceremoniously dropped him in. Kowalski winced, Private just seem to grumble, annoyed, but was still once more. Dr. Blowhole made his way back to Kowalski.

"Now, if you want to see your little friend, you'll have to cooperate."

Kowalski's flippers tightened in anger but he sighed, turned his back on the dolphin and held his flippers up in surrender and squeezed his eyes shut.

"_Just stay calm, Kowalski, this is the only way you can get to Private, then once you know he's all right, you both can figure a way out,"_ Kowalski thought as he felt himself being lifted. It took everything in his body to not struggle.

Before he knew it, he was dropped and just barely landed on his feet, but rolled when he felt his injured leg fold under him. He shook it off and made his way over to Private, shaking him.

"Private, wake up," Kowalski said gently. "Come on and open your eyes, please."

He knew he sounded a little pathetic, and he was somewhat waiting for Dr. Blowhole to say something, but he stayed quiet.

Kowalski checked Private over. Mostly, he seemed fine, the boils were gone; it was just that it didn't seem possible to rouse him. Kowalski frowned when his flippers passed over a ruffled patch of feathers on his back. It was the injection site, and whatever was in the syringe must have leaked a little. He brought his flipper up to his nose, smelling carefully before his tongue darted out to taste,

"What the-?" he turned to the dolphin. "What have you done?"

Dr. Blowhole looked as if he was trying for an innocent look at the slender penguin, but was failing miserably. "Whatever do you mean?"

Kowalski stood and pointed an accusing flipper at him. "You injected Private with something that has vast amounts of steroids, adrenaline, testosterone, and, well, and," he rolled his tongue around his mouth, trying to figure out what the other strange tastes were. For what he could surmise so far, it didn't look good.

"Oh, the rest are just a few chemicals of my own invention. You may want to turn around, Kowalski," Dr. Blowhole said casually.

Kowalski heard scuffling behind him, accompanied with a groan. He looked over his shoulder, then turned around as Private got to his feet.

"Private!" he rushed towards him. "Are you al-"

Suddenly, Kowalski found himself slipping across the floor and then he crashed into the wall. He shook his head and looked up with a gasp. Private was on his feet, his eyes red around the edges, his breath made his chest heave, like he has just finished running a marathon, his flippers twitching as if he wanted to hit something, and that something was Kowalski.

Dr. Blowhole laughed.

"When I said that Private would be 'ready and willing for duty,' I meant that he was going to be ready and willing in his new duty of obeying me."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	5. Flashback One

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Skipper and Rico were back at headquarters. Rico was checking his munitions stock, making sure that he had everything and anything that was the most destructible at his disposal. Skipper was looking over some sketches and plans, using the pawns from the war game the four penguins often played to flesh out his plans.

Skipper gave a sigh of frustration as he pounded the table.

"Ugh?" Rico looked up. Skipper had been so quiet that he almost forgot he was there. Rico waddled over to the table, putting his flippers on the edge and giving Skipper a pointed look. "Rah wha?"

"I don't like the looks of this, Rico," Skipper said, sparing the demolition expert a glance. "According to that lousy falcon, Dr. Blowhole is holding up in the old aquarium. Why there?" his voice turned quiet. "Why did it have to be there?"

Rico's look changed to one of concern. He had heard very little about the aquarium; even though he had spent a short time there himself. From what he understood so far, it was where Skipper had spent a good portion of his life and it was where he and Kowalski had first met. He was told it was where he met them as well, but during that time was when Rico was the most, well, "mentally compromised," according to Kowalski.

Skipper caught Rico's look and shook himself. "Buck up, Rico. I have a plan for getting in. We'll get back our men, and Ringtail, if we have time."

Rico smiled and shook his head. Skipper smirked at him and jumped up on the table.

"Rico, load up for Operation: Aquarium Rescue."

"Ah!" Rico smiled maniacally and jumped back to his pile of TNT and bombs.

Skipper hid his sigh and turned away so Rico didn't see his frown.

The aquarium was the last place in the world that he wanted to see ever again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Some time ago…..**

The aquarium wasn't the most pleasant place to be. The humans tended to starve the animals into performance, and if that didn't work, prodding with painful objects usually did the trick. Any mutinous actions lead to death.

Habitats were only kept clean if the animals themselves knew how to clean. That sort of work and energy was reserved for the show exhibits and what the public saw. The penguins' cage was among the most habitable because the leader of the penguins insisted, but there were many animals that couldn't do much about their living spaces. Skipper generally watched in disgust as animals moved about on slime-covered platforms and swam past crud-covered glass.

Skipper was taught the rules early and learned the tricks to survival. He was taught to be wary of other animals, for in such desperate situations, another creature was more likely to turn on you than help you. It wasn't logical, but it was true.

There were two main ways of life; you were a star or you were ignored. Being a star meant performances, possibly better food, but it meant a slim chance of survival. "Stars" that ceased to be useful were killed or left to die. Lying low might have meant less food and neglect, but it lead to a longer life. Skipper always took it as more time to plan an escape.

Most of the other sea creatures looked at the penguins as a slightly insane group and Skipper often had to deal with ridicule. Most of it came from a loud-mouthed bottlenose dolphin that was the current star of the aquarium. He boasted his own genius and talked down to Skipper and his plans. Though he was often right and Skipper's plans tended to fail, it didn't make him less annoying to deal with.

Things seemed to go better for Skipper when Kowalski came into the picture. The science-and-logic-driven penguin always had different options sketched out in his ever-present notepad. They didn't always work, and some of them sounded outright ridiculous, but variety was the spice of life after all and it was something Kowalski could provide.

Thus, the first major rival of the penguins was born; the dolphin constantly laughing at and trying (and sometimes succeeding) to foil the plans of penguins and the penguins continued to try. It wasn't too long before Rico joined the group, bringing an extra element to the team.

But then, the incident happened…..

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Skipper was jarred from his thoughts by a shake and Rico's muttering.

The two penguins had found their way to the subway going towards the Queens-based aquarium. Skipper frowned at the passing scenery, remember seeing it going the other way and not happy to be repeating the trip in reverse, however the penguin's leader was willing to do anything to get his men back.

"Yes, you're right, Rico, we're almost there," Skipper muttered.

"Blah rah wa wadda rah rah?" Rico asked.

"Be prepared for anything, Rico. We're going to get our men back and make that crazy dolphin pay for it."

Something deep in Skipper's stomach told him that something horrible had already happened, that while he and Rico were on their way, Kowalski and Private were enduring something horrendous.

This was the one time that Skipper hoped his gut was wrong.


	6. When Kowalski Met Private

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kowalski tried to keep his breathing under control. He had been mainly dodging Private's violent advances and with his injured leg, he was tiring easily. It didn't help that the younger penguin's hand-to-hand combat skills exceeded his own.

"Snap out of it, Private! It's me, your old pal, Kowalski!" he said, holding his flippers up in a placating manner.

Private just snarled a response before leaping at Kowalski again.

"This is a pretty good show. Don't you think so, your highness?" Dr. Blowhole said to the frightened lemur still in the cage.

"Oh, yes, much excitement," King Julien stuttered in reply, even though the scene playing out before him honestly made him ill. "Uhm, what is it that you will be doing to me, please?"

The dolphin shot the lemur a nasty look. "You betray and double-cross me and still have the nerve to actually speak to me?"

Julien shrank back in his cage. "Well, yes," he started to become indignant, "it was you who started with the conversating with me," he crossed his arms and turned away from the sea mammal. "I was only being polite."

A slow smirk broke across the beak of the dolphin. "I see. Well, to continue this lovely flow of politeness that we have established, let me offer you a snack. I'm sure you're hungry."

Dr. Blowhole reached up to open the roof of the cage and dropped a bag inside. At first, Julien flinched away from it, eying the bag suspiciously and glancing up now and again to the calm façade of Dr. Blowhole. After a while, he reached tentatively for the bag, his curiosity getting the better of him. His eyes widened when he saw the contents of the bag.

"Red lychee nuts! My favorite!" Julien grinned before tossing a red nut into his mouth.

Down below, Kowalski was still dodging Private's attacks while trying to figure out a way to snap him out of his state. What would Skipper do?

His thoughts were quickly interrupted when Private tackled him, pinned him to the ground and pressed his flippers to Kowalski's neck. Kowalski struggled and tried to push him off, but their position didn't allow it.

"Private," he choked out. "Come on, you remember me, don't you? The Private I know wouldn't do this."

He forced his eyes to open and look directly into Private's in desperation he willed thoughts into Private's mind.

"_Come on, Private, please, please remember,"_ Kowalski thought now that he was unable to take a breath to say it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**A Long Time Ago…**

Kowalski remembered when Private first arrived at the Central Park Zoo. He was the one who intercepted the memo to Alice that the zoo would be receiving a transfer from the London Zoo.

"But, why transfer here from so far away?" Skipper asked, his eyes getting that suspicious gleam upon Kowalski's report.

"Apparently, their penguin habitat is overcrowded and this was the first wildlife conservation zoo on the list," Kowalski explained.

"Do we have any intel on the new arrival?"

"An adolescent male penguin, approximately five years old, born in captivity."

"So, we got ourselves a possible incoming rookie or a possible incoming spy."

Rico tilted his head. "Blah gah rabba wadda rah?"

"That's right, Rico, a spy from an old friend."

Kowalski shook his head. "Be reasonable, Skipper, there's no way he would be able to find us."

Skipper folded his flippers and thought about this. "I guess you're right, Kowalski. It doesn't help to be prepared, though."

"Heh, heh," Rico chuckled before coughing up a stick of dynamite. "Kaboom, heh heh heh."

"Let's start with interrogations, Rico."

Rico swallowed the dynamite and coughed up a rolling pin instead and beat one side of it against his flipper.

"Good work. So, what's the ETA on the new arrival, Kowalski?"

There was a loud beeping sound up above them, and then they heard Alice's voice.

"Easy! Don't traumatize the animal more than it already is!" Alice said angrily.

The three penguins looked at each other and Skipper went to the periscope. He saw that a box was dropped off on the edge of their platform, and Alice was retreating, rolling a dolly behind her. He waited until the plank between the outside and their habitat was pulled away. The box wasn't very big, and a small doorway was opened on the side, but there was no sign of the new penguin.

"Let's go topside, boys, be prepared for anything. Move out!"

They climbed up the ladder, peeking outside cautiously before climbing outside. They approached the box slowly.

"Kowalski, options?" Skipper muttered.

"Uhm, say hello, perhaps?" Kowalski said with a frown and a shrug.

Skipper gave Kowalski a glance, unsure of this idea, but cleared his throat.

"Hello? Anyone inside the box?" Skipper called out.

They watched the door carefully. A small, orange foot poked out, then a flipper curved around the edge of the door and a small penguin face poked out, bright blue eyes blinking in the sun.

"A might bright out here," the gentle voice said so quietly the three almost didn't hear. The blue eyes fixed on them, and the small penguin waddled out. "Hello!"

"Welcome to New York," Skipper said with a smile. "Fall in, Private."

The little penguin tilted his head. Kowalski thought he looked rather adorable, fitting what Skipper usually referred to as "cute and cuddly." It worked for him, since essentially, Private was still a child.

"What's all this, then?" he asked.

"Fall in, get in line, your position will be next to Kowalski."

He frowned. "Excuse me, but which one is Kowalski?"

"That would be me," Kowalski said, waving the penguin over.

"Oh, it's very nice to meet you."

"Procedure before formalities, soldier, now get in line," Skipper said.

"Oh, right."

The new penguin waddled over quickly and stood next to Kowalski. The taller penguin swore he could see him quivering.

"Don't worry, Skipper's not really as rough as he seems," Kowalski assured him.

"Are you sure?"

Kowalski smiled and simply nodded.

"It's time to brief our new recruit," Skipper said.

While Skipper talked, Kowalski kept an eye on the new penguin, who would be known as Private from then on. He looked a little nervous, but seemed generally bright and happy. By the time they finished with introductions and the basics, it was getting late. They gathered around the table for dinner, where Rico showed off his sushi skills, and Skipper insisted that they all get to bed, for they had a lot of training to do for Private the next day. They all settled in their beds and it didn't take long for them to fall asleep.

Kowalski was awoken by some rustling and blinked into the darkness of their headquarters to see a tiny figure going up the ladder. He waited for a moment before following him, as to not wake up Skipper and Rico, and went up top. He found Private sitting on the edge of the platform, looking up at the full moon.

"Are you okay?" Kowalski asked.

"Hm?" Private didn't even flinch. "Oh, hello, Kowalski, I'm okay, just maybe a little homesick."

Kowalski sat next to him. "What was London like?"

"Rainy."

"Oh, uhm, what sort of training did you receive?"

Private shook his head. "Nothing like what Skipper said. The penguins in my habitat were mainly female and the other males were quite huge."

Kowalski smiled a little, he could imagine what poor Private was like among the larger penguins and it was likely that he was forced to stick around the females for protection. Private's sigh broke him out of his thoughts.

"I'm sensing that there is a bit more than simple homesickness occupying you."

"Oh, I don't know, just feel a bit lonely, I guess. Skipper would be awfully disappointed in me, wouldn't he?"

"Despite Skipper's macho exterior, even he can't deny the fact that we penguins are social creatures by nature. We need companionship and we do tend to get lonely. To my knowledge, there is only one penguin he has met that has come close to defying that part of our nature."

"Oh, who's that?"

Kowalski chuckled and shifted his position so he was sitting back to back with Private; the small bit of physical contact was soothing to them both.

"Let me tell you about when I met Rico…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kowalski suddenly felt air returning to his lungs as the pressure against his windpipe lessened.

"Kowalski?"

He opened his eyes and saw that Private was slowly sitting back, his eyes rolling in his head. Kowalski found the effect creepy, but he knew he couldn't be distracted.

"Private, are you all right?"

The small penguin rolled off of him with a pained moan. Kowalski fought off his own nausea and crawled to his friend. Private swiped a flipper at him, but it was sluggish and completely missed its target.

"Private, stay with me," Kowalski said.

Private growled and rolled over towards him, Kowalski was too tired to do much to keep him away and could only look into Private's eyes as he gripped Kowalski's flippers with his own.

"Kowalski, help me," Private whispered before his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped against the taller penguin.

"Private? Private!" Kowalski shook him, but there was no other response.

"Okay, I think that playtime is over, Kowalski."

Kowalski gripped onto Private tightly as Dr. Blowhole reached in to take him away, but a backhanded slap from a dolphin flipper separated them quickly, sending Kowalski headfirst into the side of the cage.

"_I failed,"_ was the last thought that fired across Kowalski's mind as the world faded away again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	7. Break In

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Skipper and Rico made their way into the abandoned aquarium. It had fallen into disrepair since it had been shut down and the animals sent away. Skipper could see with one glace that it could easily be a psychopath's playground. He racked his brain to try to remember a layout he swore he would forget and decided that the most likely place the crazy dolphin would hole up would be in the main holding arena.

As the two closed into the main area, they moved slower, watching their every step.

"Okay, Rico, be prepared for anything," Skipper said.

Rico nodded wildly, took a glance around, then he frowned and tapped Skipper on the shoulder. Skipper turned his head to find Rico pointing at an army of lobsters.

"Hoover Dam," Skipper muttered. "No mercy, Rico."

Rico coughed up an armload of grenades and the battle began. Skipper and Rico soon found themselves dodging claws, random explosions bursting around them, both were sure to make sure the other was in their sights, not willing to lose another team member to a moment's distraction.

Skipper saw an opening and whistled to Rico. Rico looked up and saw Skipper's gesture and nodded. He coughed up another armload of grenades and sent them flying before he turned around and slide Skipper's way. The two slipped inside the main area.

"Rico, saw, now!"

Rico coughed up his favorite hacksaw and handed it to Skipper, who used it to saw through a chain. Before any of the lobsters could make heads or tails of the situation, a door came crashing down.

"Let's move," Skipper said, knowing no more words were necessary.

They ran as fast as they could down the darkened hallway. It didn't sit right with either of them that the only thing they could hear was the slap of their own feet. Finally Skipper stopped, Rico copied and the two listened. It was eerily silent until an echoing dolphin laugh slowly filtered down to them.

"This way," Skipper murmured, diving into a belly-slide.

They rounded a corner where there was some more light. This hall had a few doorways; most of them lit from the inside, but neither looked very inviting. The two penguins were about to move forward when the whir of a hover scooter made them duck back around the corner. They peeked a little, watching Dr. Blowhole scoot out of one room and turn into another. Skipper waited and strained his ears for any sounds; maybe Dr. Blowhole would talk to one of his minions, maybe the voices of his lost teammates and Julien could clue him in, but alas there was nothing.

A tap on his shoulder nearly made him jump. Rico gave him a questioning look, Skipper only shook his head, shrugged, and nodded towards the door Dr. Blowhole had just went into.

Again, their progress was slow and careful, ready to duck into another room at a moment's notice. Skipper's eyes were all over, looking for traps or surveillance. He wondered why the dolphin seemed to lack any sort of defense past the lobster army, which was still outside.

Crazy laughter stopped the two penguins in their tracks. Skipper frowned; he had heard that laugh before. He glanced back at Rico, who also had his head tilted as he listened carefully to the laugh.

"Rurien?" Rico muttered.

"Ringtail," Skipper agreed. "Let's go."

The two stayed close to the edges of the walls and when they came to the first doorway, they peered inside to make sure no one was in there. The room apparently was a chemistry lab. Skipper didn't like the looks of it, but then again, what was there to like about sneaking around your mortal enemy's secret lair?

Skipper motioned for them to move on. They took a few steps, then a metallic clanging above them made Skipper look up and he shoved Rico into the chemistry lab. Rico rolled to the side, making it just inside the doorway and gasped in horror when a metal cage dropped over his leader. Skipper waved at him to go hide, but Rico got up and made to go to him, but the look on Skipper's face stopped him cold. He could almost hear Skipper say, _"Stay put, that's an order, mister!"_ and Rico just couldn't disobey a direct order from Skipper.

"Well, another little pen-gyu-in," Dr. Blowhole said as he came out of his room and started towards the trapped Skipper.

"Blowhole," Skipper said, contempt was clear in his voice. "What have you done with my men and the lemur?"

"Right now, your furry friend is enjoying his favorite lychee nuts while your sorry excuses for soldiers take a nap."

Skipper's eyes narrowed. "Do what you will with me, let my men go."

"Huh, so much for 'never swim alone.' Where's your fourth? Rico, isn't it?"

Skipper just steadied his glare. From his peripheral vision, he could see Rico was still just inside the doorway, watching, but following the order from his superior. Dr. Blowhole didn't take any notice any of this and just gave a shrug.

"Whatever. I suppose I can't count on you to come quietly, can I?"

"Let me consider it," he looked away for a moment, pretending to think before turning back to the dolphin. "Go get lost in a forest of jellyfish."

Dr. Blowhole shook his head. "Suit yourself," he pressed a button on his control panel.

Skipper put his flippers up, anticipating a fight, but was surprised to find small holes opening up beneath his feet and he could hear the gas escaping before it reached his nostrils.

"Manfriedy and Johnson would be very disappointed," Skipper murmured. He took a deep breath and held it as long as he could while trying to find an escape. It proved to be useless, so Skipper accepted his fate and finally took a breath full of gas. He knew it would only put him to sleep, but it certainly didn't make him happy. He collapsed on the floor, looking at Rico one last time.

Rico frowned and moved further back into the room. It was all up to him now.

"Oh, boy."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	8. Kowalski's Decision

Kowalski woke up to total darkness. He blinked, but it didn't help. He held his flippers up to his face.

"Oh, sweet mercy, I've gone blind," Kowalski murmured, trying to keep from hyperventilating. He reached up to check his head, and sure enough, there was a bump on the back that was still tender. "Dumb dolphin is stronger than he looks."

Kowalski tried to stand, but his stomach turned and his leg was still burning. He was sure it was going to be infected if he didn't have treatment soon.

"K-Kowalski," a groggy, muffled voice reached his ear.

"Am I going deaf, too?" Kowalski wondered out loud. But his voice didn't seem to be muffled.

"Ko – _cough_ – walksi," the voice murmured again weakly.

"Private? Private, are you all right?" Kowalski called out.

Private let out a low groan of pain. "Make it stop, Kowalski, make it stop."

"Oh, I can make it stop, little Private," said Dr. Blowhole.

Kowalski growled in frustration, looking around him towards the voices. "Leave him alone! Haven't you done enough?"

"Oh, come on now, Kowalski, you know how we scientists work. Private is supplying me with quite a good bit of data, though I wish he were in better health. Perhaps the dart frog poison had some bad side effects. Oh well, it's just more data to be accounted for."

A crazy idea came to Kowalski. It was risky, but he felt he had no choice. He knew that Skipper and Rico would come rescue them, and he was sure he would have a better chance at surviving Dr. Blowhole's insanity than the younger penguin. But he couldn't let Dr. Blowhole know that he was blind.

"I'll make you a deal, bottlenose," Kowalski said, his voice thick, he felt like his throat was closing up. "Use me as your guinea pig. I will cooperate if you leave Private alone."

"Hm, that's an interesting proposal, Kowalski. But how can you be so sure that I will hold up my end of the deal, even if you hold up yours? Are you going to be able to tell the difference?"

"If I may be so bold, I would have your word as a creature of science."

The silence was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Kowalski swallowed, he realized that maybe this wasn't the best plan, but he hoped that he could appeal to Dr. Blowhole's delusions of being a great scientist. He figured, that maybe Dr. Blowhole didn't realize that he was struck blind and possibly going deaf, and if he expected Kowalski to fight someone, well, he surely couldn't necessarily fight what he couldn't see, could he? Kowalski was sure that he would have the last laugh in the end.

"Hm, Admit that you are less than a mediocre scientist and you have yourself a deal, Kowalski," Dr. Blowhole said.

Kowalski could feel the burning hatred rising inside him. It was like an old childhood rivalry that neither of them could let go. But before he could tell the dolphin off, Private groaned painfully again. Kowalski took a deep breath, deciding that he would be the better creature.

"I am less than a mediocre scientist and your genius exceeds my own. Happy?" Kowalski grumbled.

"More than I could say."

A bright light suddenly flooded Kowalski. The cage had been covered the whole time; he hadn't been going blind at all! He had no time to struggle or protest when the sharp sting of a needle was stuck in his back.

"Now, Kowalski, you'll likely feel some dizziness followed by unexplained feelings of rage."

Kowalski could definitely feel something happening to his body, he just wasn't sure if it was from the abuse he had received so far or if it was from the injection.

"Oh, I don't think the rage is unexplainable," Kowalski said. "After all, I am being held prisoner by an enemy who just tormented a teammate and dealt sever insult upon my person."

Then his skin started to crawl as the toxic chemicals he was injected with flowed through his veins. His heartbeat was speeding up a little and the dizziness became worse.

"Kowalski, I want you to listen to me very carefully," Dr. Blowhole's voice felt like it was cutting through straight to his brain.

"_Right, this is a brain-washing chemical,"_ Kowalski thought. He tried to keep his head clear.

"You can't resist me, so you might as well make it easy on yourself."

"_Yes I can."_

"Kowalski, you will listen to what I say. I will tell you who your enemies are and who you are to fight. It'll be so easy for you. No more thinking or worrying."

"_That's your job, though. Skipper has never steered you wrong before."_

"I'm your leader now."

"_Really? No, no! Skipper is your leader!"_

"I can support your every scientific need. All I ask in return is your loyalty."

"_I am loyal."_

"Show your loyalty to your leader. Stand at attention."

"_I am loyal to my leader."_

Kowalski was barely aware that he was standing at attention, facing Dr. Blowhole.

"Kowalski?"

"Yes, I am loyal to you, my leader," Kowalski said in a monotone.


	9. Rico's Flashback

Rico stayed in the chemistry lab even after Skipper had been taken away. He knew he had to wait for the gas to clear out before he went near the hallway, otherwise all could be lost. But he also needed the time to try to figure out a way to rescue his team. This made Rico very nervous, he hadn't really had to do anything on his own. As a matter of fact, ever since he became part of the team, he had never been alone.

* * *

**Some time ago…..**

_Rico sat in the corner of his cage, polishing his favorite chainsaw. He kept giggling as his brain replayed the different battles he had been in. His opponents were always caught off-guard by his special talent. He trained his belly to become his own personal weapons stock. He didn't remember how it had started; all he knew was that it was the best way to keep anything he wanted and not have it stolen. No one could steal what they didn't know you had._

_He heard something slapping against the floor and stood up. There was one way of taking care of this. He set his chainsaw aside and brought up a couple of sticks of dynamite._

"_Ka-boom!" he squealed as he tossed the glowing sticks into the dark._

"_Uh oh, evasive maneuvers!" a voice ordered seconds before the dynamite blew._

_Rico listened carefully and heard the slapping again. He coughed up more dynamite and a grenade, throwing them into the darkness._

"_Stand down, soldier!" the voice called out to him._

_Rico didn't understand it and kept throwing explosives. Another voice joined the first and Rico shook his head. He hated when the voices fought._

_Suddenly a black and white figure had attached itself to the bars of his cage. He glanced up at it and tilted his head._

"_Huh?" Rico glared up at the creature. He muttered some more and picked up his chainsaw._

"_I told you to stand down, soldier."_

_Rico nearly dropped his chainsaw. The creature talked! It actually, truly talked! Usually they would just growl and bare their teeth and the only voices Rico heard was in his own head._

_The creature slid off the bars and moved to stand in front of him. Another creature came out of the darkness, this one seemed more timid and was taller._

"_Uhm, Skipper, are you sure about this?" it asked the first, shorter one._

_Rico balked, not believing that he was actually understanding them._

"_What's wrong, Kowalski?"_

"_I'm not so sure about this penguin."_

"_Don't give me nonsense, man."_

_Rico now had to drop the chainsaw and he crossed his flippers as he regarded these two creatures. They were black and white, very much like him, he noticed their feet were like his, and what was still the most mind-boggling was that he understood them! Was this what it was like to be around other penguins?_

_Of course, this only made Rico more suspicious. He ran at the bars and rattled them, yelling at the two in his usual gibberish._

_The shorter of the two penguins raised an eyebrow at him. "Kowalski, did you get any of that?" he said slowly._

"_Not one word. He must be using an unknown dialect. Perhaps this is what Manfriedy meant by him being compromised?"_

_Rico growled at them. "Rah whadda rah blah ra!"_

_The two looked at him blankly and then the shorter penguin came closer to the cage, apparently not afraid of Rico at all; another thing that stunned the crazed penguin._

"_Listen up, compadre, I'm sure you don't want to be in that cage," he said, his voice was gentle but still held a strong tone of command. "So you have a choice; you can stand down and let Kowalski and I help you, or you can stay in there forever with whatever crazy, mixed up world your head has made for you."_

_Rico's eyes couldn't help but be locked to Skipper's. It was so strange; he never met other penguins, not that he could remember. Rico knew that he was a little off, but he still had a heart, feelings, a conscience, and his instincts. He knew that he wasn't meant to be by himself, and maybe, just maybe, that was the reason why his was crazy. Going against instinct could do that to someone. The weird feelings inside of him made him curious, why did these two stir them up all of a sudden? Was it because they were the first creatures that attempted to speak to him, or was there something else going on?_

_Curiosity got the better of him and he nodded. "Yup."_

_Skipper tilted his head. "Yes you'll cooperate, or yes you'll stay in there forever?"_

_Rico pointed to Skipper, then at Kowalski, and smiled. He noticed Kowalski shudder._

_Skipper, however, smiled back. "Welcome to the team, soldier," he looked around the cage. "Kowalski, options."_

_Kowalski frowned at the cage. "There doesn't seem to be any simple way to open up the prison."_

_Rico grinned and hacked up a bomb. "Ka-boom, ha ha ha!"_

"_Are you sure that's a wise thing to-" Kowalski started, but then a corner of the cage was blown and Rico jumped out of the newly blown hole._

"_Ta da!" he said._

"_Well done, soldier," Skipper said, moving up to pat Rico's shoulder. "What's your name?"_

"_Rico."_

"_Well done, Rico. Come meet the other part of the team, this is Kowalski."_

_Kowalski waved a flipper at him, forcing a smile. "It's nice to meet you."_

_Rico reached over and grabbed Kowalski's flipper and pulled him in for a quick hug and reached over to hug Skipper as well. Kowalski was shocked into stillness, giving Skipper an unsure glance over Rico's shoulder. Skipper nodded and pushed Rico away._

"_We high five around here, soldier," Skipper said, reaching over to slap Kowalski's flipper._

_Rico nodded again with a smile and held a flipper up. Skipper gave him a high five, Rico then saw Kowalski holding his flipper down for him and reached over to high five him too._

_Skipper slapped Rico's back. "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."_

_Rico smiled widely. He looked over at Kowalski, who regarded him with an unsure look, but Rico just shrugged at him anyway._

* * *

Rico didn't know if Skipper and Kowalski ever knew that they did more than just liberate him from that cage and endless, illegal animal fights, they also broke him from the prison of his own mind. Sure, he was always going to be just past that line of insanity, but that was okay. He had his place on the team.

But right now, the team wasn't there. Rico was still sitting under a table in a chemistry lab, his mind running a mile a minute, voices and strange thoughts returning, the ones that would come to him when he was lonely.

"Nuh uh," Rico said out loud to himself, clamping his mind down to shut out that old psychotic cycle. He planted his feet and stood up. His friends were in trouble and he wasn't going to leave them hanging.

Rico went cautiously into the hall, sniffing first to make sure all of the sleeping gas had dissipated. He made his way carefully down the hallway, peeking into the various rooms. None of them seemed to have anything of interest; a few wrecked cages, empty holding pens, old posters for the aquarium featuring pictures of sea animals and a lot of words.

Rico got to the end of the hall to the last door. He was sure that this was the door that Dr Blowhole had come out of. He put his ear to the closed door. He couldn't hear anything on the other side. It wasn't latched closed and it creaked open when he pushed on it. The door only lead into another hallway, which then made Rico grunt in frustration. He edged along the hall, staying as close to the shadows as possible. He wasn't sure what he was going to do if someone came down the hall, there really wasn't anyplace to hide, and he supposed he would either take them out or use one of the smoke bombs he was sure he had rattling in his gut somewhere.

There was a sound that made him stop. It was a soft, padding sound, like feet with fur. Rico crouched into the closest, darkest shadow and waited.

A familiar figure came out of the darkness, looking a little twitchy, either nervous or looking for something, or both. A fluffy tail following only confirmed Rico's suspicions and he got up to approach the self-proclaimed King of the Lemurs.

But when Rico got closer and got a better look at Julien, he knew something was wrong. His eyes were red and unfocused, his hands clenched closed and opened, and a psychotic smile that rivaled Rico's split the furry face.

Julien lunged for him and Rico easily stepped out of the way and sank into a defensive fighting stance. He couldn't help smirking and the excitement that built in his heart; he was going to make this fight a memorable one. What other chances was he going to get to fight Julien and not get into any trouble for it?

Rico crooked his flipper at the crazed lemur. "C'mere."

Author's Note

Hey everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the fic so far! I also figured out how to work the video program I have on my computer, so I bent to the Penguin muses and made a MV for our favorite elite strike force ^_^

youtube  
.com/watch?v=2CPuj-62-SQ

In case the link doesn't work, you can search "Penguins of Madagascar - It's My Life" or look up my name. I only have the one video so it should be easy to find.

Enjoy all!


	10. Skippers Fight

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Skipper awoke to concrete, cold, and the eerie feeling that he was being watched. He got to his feet, fighting the vertigo that greeted him, and looked around. He was in a domed cage, the holes barely big enough to fit his wingtip. Bright lights flooded the cage and made it difficult to see outside of it. Skipper squinted around anyway.

"Did you enjoy your nap, Skipper?"

Skipper whipped around to face the voice, though he couldn't see its owner. "My pillow could have used a little more fluffing."

"Oh, but I thought you had said that you liked a hard pillow, or am I to never believe anything from King Julien?" Dr. Blowhole's voice continued to echo.

"What have you done with Ringtail?" Skipper asked, deciding to get to the point.

"He's on an errand. It would be wise to contemplate your next move, Skipper, as I have quite a proposition for you."

Skipper raised an eyebrow and cross his flippers. "Yeah?"

"Illegal animal fighting is a very profitable market. The humans have easy access to dog and cock fights, but the more wild and exotic ones are hard to come by."

Skipper frowned. "I don't like where this is going, Blowhole."

"I didn't think you would. Now, I also have my own scientific endeavors to attend to, but equipment is very expensive, just like lab subjects. I have a setup to generate income through the humans paying to see animal fights, and now I have one of the best fighters I have come across. Here is my proposal; participate in the arena and your men go free."

"You really are insane," Skipper said with a scoff. "I have absolutely no interest and no reason to believe you."

"I believe you have no choice."

"You're right, I don't! I see through this insanity of yours! If I agree, the only way I'll know you let my men go is when they come in to get me, and believe me they would. If I disagree, I'm guessing you'd put a rabid Chihuahua in here with me so you can get your little animal fight videos. Forget it, Blowhole; I'm not going to be your gladiator."

"Hmm, well, no, Skipper, I disagree with you on the last part, at least a little. I respect your skills enough to know that a little dog is not a likely match and you'd find a way to wipe the floor with it. No, Skipper, I have something a little more challenging for you."

A whirring noise on the opposite end of the cage made Skipper turn, and he saw that a doorway was opening, but it wasn't a way to the outside. A box of some sort was pushed up against it. If there was another animal inside, it didn't move or give any clue as to what it was. Skipper clenched his flippers, ready for anything.

"Kowalski, attack!" Dr. Blowhole ordered.

Skipper's frown deepened; he couldn't be serious, could he?

Unfortunately, he found that he was, for Kowalski charged out of the box like raging bull. Skipper went to move, but Kowalski moved faster than he realized. Skipper took the tackle, rolling with it and throwing Kowalski off before leaping to his feet.

"Kowalski, stand down!" Skipper ordered.

Kowalski faced him. "Must obey the leader."

"And that's me!"

"Not anymore," Dr. Blowhole said.

Kowalski moved forward again to attack. Skipper blocked and dodged, looking for an opening and when he found it, he shoved Kowalski against the cage.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again; I'll take out one of my own if I have to. Don't make me do it, Kowalski."

Dr. Blowhole chuckled. "Still telling those tall tales of Manfredi and Johnson, are we?"

"Blowhole, if I ever get my hands on you-"

The dolphin's laughter echoed around him. "But you won't, Skipper."

Kowalski fought Skipper off and kicked him in the stomach. Skipper backed off, the wind knocked out of him, and he knew that he was in trouble. As rough on the outside he acted, taking out one of his own men was mainly just a threat, but now he was left wondering if he would have to stand by it and carry it out in order to save himself.

* * *

Rico sighed as he looked down on Julien's limp form. The fight wasn't easy; Julien didn't look it, but he had some muscle on him, Rico guessed it was from all the dancing he did. It was just that the fight didn't last as long as he originally hoped, but as he lifted the unconscious lemur and put him over one shoulder, he figured it was for the best. He still had to find where the others were and what Dr. Blowhole was up to.

The hallway seemed longer now, Rico figured maybe it was because he was tired, but he shook his head and focused on making his way down the hall.

After a few feet, Rico started to feel lost and lonely. He had no clue what he was going to do. There was a natural order to life; Skipper took charge, gave orders, and made the decisions, Kowalski had the plans, options, and knowledge, Private was the positive reinforcement, ray of hope, and surprisingly awesome at hand-to-hand combat, and of course there was himself, the demolition and weapons expert who had whatever tools the team needed. The order was not to be messed with. Rico was not supposed to be in charge, by himself, the last hope of the team, not like this. Never swim alone!

Rico shook himself again. He was better than this, being alone was_ not_ going to tear him apart. Wasn't that the whole point of Skipper's "The Big One" test?

But he still had Private and Kowalski, then.

Rico stopped and put Julien down and shook his head as hard as he could. He had to stop these thoughts or he wasn't going to get anywhere! His team needed him and he could not afford to get lost in his own mind!

Suddenly, a scream echoed down the hall, making Rico jump. He didn't like the sound of it; it was familiar and something was severely wrong in the tone. He hoisted Julien up again and took off at the fastest pace he could.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	11. Puzzle Pieces

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Private didn't want to scream, but it hurt too much to stay quiet. He felt like his body was burning itself from the inside, his head was in a vice grip, even his feathers ached awfully.

He also knew that something terrible happened. He did something horrendously horrible, part of him wanted to remember, and the other seemed to disagree.

"Kowalski?" Private called out weakly. "Kowalski!"

He knew he was there, he remembered hearing his voice, but what was this memory of them fighting each other? Maybe he was hallucinating.

"Ugh, this has to stop," Private murmured, trying to move into a more comfortable position.

"I can make it stop, Private," Dr. Blowhole said.

Private's heart skipped a beat. Right, he was a prisoner, and so was Kowalski.

"Where's Kowalski?" Private asked as he climbed unsteadily to his feet. He wished he could make himself sound fierce and demanding, but the words came out weak and slightly slurred instead.

"Busy at the moment. I doubt he would want to see you, anyway."

Private tried looking around, but everything looked fuzzy and his eyes refused to focus. Colors looked off; things seemed distorted, even Dr. Blowhole looked like a big pillar of blue-grey instead of an actual dolphin. His words brought back Privates focus for the moment.

"Huh? Why wouldn't Kowalski want to see me?" he slurred out.

"I certainly wouldn't want to see the one who beat me in a fight."

"What? I, I didn't- couldn't-"

The dolphin laugh was painful to Private's ears "You could, you did, and you will do it again."

Private was stunned, he didn't feel himself collapse again, but he did have more flashes of memory explode like tiny suns in his head. As his brain shouted denial after denial, a small part of his head barely registered the prick of a needle in his backside.

Private stilled as he felt the injection course in his veins. He recognized the feeling immediately, and while it brought some relief to his pain, he knew the consequences. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his flippers over his ears as the speed of his breathing picked up.

"No, no, I will not do this, not again!" Private said as loudly as he could.

"You're wasting your time and energy," Dr. Blowhole said, even though his words didn't reach the twitching little penguin.

"You can't make me, I won't do it!" Private wailed.

Dr. Blowhole rolled his eyes slightly as he checked the clock, timing the progress of his invention and how long it was taking to be effective.

Private forced himself back onto his feet, though it was difficult; it felt like every part of his body was filled with wet sand. He also found the focus to open his eyes and glare in the dolphin's direction, which only earned him a condescending chuckle.

"I'm in control, Private," Dr. Blowhole said. "And you will do what I say."

Private's face went from an angry glare to a blank.

"_No, you're not,_" he thought.

"I am in control and you will do as I say."

"_That's not true._"

"I am your leader, now."

"_No._"

"I control you and you will do exactly as I say."

Private suddenly felt like he was being pushed backwards, then he was surrounded by the odd sense of falling deep down into nothingness, even thought his body had not moved an inch.

"I will do exactly as you say," Private said in a monotone.

Dr. Blowhole smiled as he opened the cage and let Private out.

"What a good slave. Maybe Kowalski would like to see you, after all. Perhaps you wouldn't mind helping him take out your former commander."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rico stopped moving when he heard a doorway open. He watched Dr. Blowhole come out into the hallway. He growled and was about to attack, but he was stopped in his tracks when he saw Private following the dolphin.

What in the world was going on?

Rico dropped Julien gently and slide carefully closer to the pair. He noticed Private was walking a fair enough distance behind Blowhole, so Rico could get alongside Private without being noticed.

He tapped the smaller penguin on the shoulder, his other flipper held to his beak so Private knew to stay quiet when he turned to see Rico there, but Rico soon found that he needn't have bothered. Private turned and before he even laid eyes on his teammate, with one smooth move, he knocked Rico off his feet. Rico was too stunned to get off of the floor and just stared up at the small penguin.

"Intruder!" Private said in a loud monotone, and it was only then that Rico realized that Private's wide, bright blue eyes were unfocused and rolled slightly in his head.

"Uh oh," Rico muttered.

Dr. Blowhole then turned around and grinned. "Ah, Rico, how nice it was of you to save me the trouble of coming to find you."

Rico rolled back, jumped to his feet, and landed in a fighting stance.

"Oh, eager to be defeated, are we? " Dr. Blowhole said. "This will certainly be entertaining. Private, take him out."

"Yes, sir," Private said.

Private rushed him, but Rico was ready. Or, at least, he thought he was. He was able to block and counter most of Private's attacks, and was ready to deal a blow himself when he suddenly felt his back hit the wall, and his head hit the floor. He didn't remember Private ever having a move that threw the opponent at the wall, much less upside down!

Really, what _was_ going on?

He ignored Dr. Blowhole's echoing laughter and rushed at Private. Apparently he didn't anticipate the move and Rico pinned him to the ground.

"Er rah wadda rah bah?" Rico asked him.

Private stared blankly at him, but then rolled Rico over. Rico frowned as Private pressed his flippers to his neck. He guessed Private was trying to strangle him, but Rico was just way too big for Private.

Rico grabbed Private by the shoulders and rolled him back over easily. He struggled hard, and Rico more or less let him until he could get Private onto his stomach. He held the little penguin's flippers behind his back and forced him to stand. Rico quickly coughed up a rope and threw part of it around Private's neck, not choking him but making it clear that he could. Rico glared and growled at Dr. Blowhole.

"Huh. Go ahead, Rico, strangle your little friend, it's probably the only way you'll be able to stop him," Dr. Blowhole said casually.

Rico shook his head. "Uh, uh."

"He only obeys me now, there's nothing else you can do to stop him."

"Oh, yeah?"

Rico pulled the rope so he could hold it in one flipper so the other could catch the rolling pin he coughed up. He lifted it high, intending on hitting Private on the head and knocking him out, but when he swung, the utensil was gone and his balled up flipper just knocked the back of Private's head.

"Huh?"

He suspected it was his own rolling pin that hit the back of his own head, and the crazy laughter that followed clued him in to who did it before he sank into darkness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	12. Flashback Two

Author's Note #1: Hey all! Yeah, this is a long chapter, maybe should have thought about splitting it, but there was just so much I wanted to tell, so, yeah… Hope you all enjoy anyway ^_^;

* * *

Kowalski growled like a wild animal, unhappy with the way Skipper had him pinned against the cage again. It made Skipper shudder, though he wasn't sure if it was horror that his essentially second in command was behaving like this, or that he was actually becoming frightened by him.

"Come on, Kowalski, snap out of it already!" Skipper grumbled. "You can't tell me you don't remember your own Skipper, do you?"

Kowalski steadied his flippers against the cage and shoved hard. Skipper jumped back as Kowalski turned to swing at him. The taller penguin looked like he had lost his mind; his eyes were wild and wide, Skipper was almost expecting him to start foaming at the mouth. He ran at Skipper again and they exchanged more blows.

Skipper hated to admit it, but he wasn't sure how much of this he was going to be able to take.

"So, how's the team bonding going?" Dr. Blowhole said.

Skipper knew that the deranged dolphin had left at one point and he didn't like the fact that he came back.

"What do you want?" he asked, knocking Kowalski aside when he attacked again.

"I'm just checking in on my favorite pen-gyu-ins."

"Doing just fan-flipping-tastic," Skipper grunted as he hit the ground.

"Oh, good, because I have something to make your team bonding experience complete. Kowalski, cease the attack."

Kowalski stilled. "Yes, sir."

Skipper tried to position himself so his back wasn't to Kowalski but he could see where Dr. Blowhole opened up the cage. It didn't seem possible, but soon it didn't matter, because he was distracted by Rico's falling figure.

"Rico!" Skipper went to his side. Rico groaned, assuring Skipper that he wasn't dead.

"Oh, that's only the first part of this little family reunion," Dr. Blowhole said.

Skipper looked up to see Private standing next to Kowalski, though he looked more like a zombie than Kowalski, and also King Julien, who looked at Skipper with red eyes and was chuckling crazily.

"What have you done?" Skipper muttered.

"I never make idle threats about getting my revenge, Skipper."

Skipper couldn't help a glance down at Rico at this. "Yeah, I know," he clenched a flipper and turned to where he last heard the voice. "Don't you think you've done enough?"

"Not at all," Dr. Blowhole sneered. "Not one little bit, Skipper."

Skipper growled. "How much further do you plan on taking these revenges of yours?"

"Until I am satisfied."

* * *

_**Some time ago…..**_

_Manfriedi and Johnson had already left Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico. Skipper was told that they were going on an important mission and it was likely that they would not be returning. It made Skipper a little nervous to be completely and totally in charge, but he knew that the two penguins who were essentially his parents were counting on him. With a final salute exchanged between the three, Manfriedi and Johnson were gone._

_Things at the aquarium were becoming worse. Their feedings were becoming less frequent, the humans often appeared nervous, and the sea creatures that were "stars" were being forced into more dangerous acts than before._

_Dr. Blowhole of course boasted about his new act, telling anyone that would listen that he would be the only sea creature worthy of such a performance. Already the sea lions had failed, both of them dying during rehearsal due to severe burns. While the sea lions weren't favorites of the penguins, it still wasn't pleasant to hear about a fellow sea creature perishing._

_Skipper paced in their cage the night before Dr. Blowhole was to perform the new act. He didn't like what was going on and he fully intended on doing something about it._

"_I think it's time we left. Kowalski, options," Skipper said._

"_Hm," Kowalski murmured as he sketched on his pad with a red crayon. "We could always use the distraction of the new attraction to make our escape."_

"_Rah, kaboom! Ha ha ha!" Rico said, waving around a stick of dynamite._

_Kowalski frowned and was thankful that the stick wasn't lit for once._

"_No, too obvious, give me another option," Skipper said._

"_Huh, well, maybe we can work on digging a route into the sewer system-"_

"_Negative, the sewer system is a biological hazard, way too dangerous."_

_An echoing laughter cut off their thoughts._

"_And just what are you pen-gyu-ins think you're doing?" the dolphin asked as he peeked over the edge of his tank._

_Kowalski glared at him. "It's pronounced 'penguins,' you know."_

"_Oh, Kowalski, you're still using the old school pen and paper, hm? You know, I have my own laptop to keep all of my notes on."_

_Kowalski grumbled, but a wave from Skipper told him to ignore the dolphin's claim._

"_What do you want, Blowhole?" Skipper asked._

"_I just wanted to remind you of how much better I am than you pen-gyu-ins, that's all. For not only do I have the brains, but I have the income as well."_

"_Well, at least we're not the bad guys!" Kowalski said, brandishing his crayon as threateningly as he could._

_Rico joined in by retching up his rolling pin._

"_Stand down, gentleman," Skipper told his team. "And as for you, mammal, you'll get what's coming to you."_

"_Oh, yes, I am sure of that, Skipper."_

_Sure enough, Skipper was correct. During the Ring of Fire act, something had happened. From what Skipper was able to gather, there was a young human in the audience who wailed loudly when the ring Blowhole was to jump through was lit on fire. The high-pitched scream caused Blowhole to falter and miss his target, therefore hitting the side of the ring. Chaos erupted, the humans panicked screams terrified most of the other animals, their bellows of fear were mixed into the din as the crowds dispersed and Blowhole was rushed to the sorry excuse for a medical facility on the aquarium grounds._

"_We are a go, boys," Skipper said._

_Kowalski looked up in surprise. "Go for what?"_

"_Operation: Escape Artist! Let's go, go, go!"_

_Kowalski still looked puzzled, but Rico was already rigging a bomb to one side of the cage. He grinned maniacally as he stepped back._

"_Eh, heh, heh," he giggled gleefully._

"_Hit the dirt!" Skipper ordered as he and Kowalski dove to their bellies and covered their heads. Rico didn't move._

_BOOM! The explosion shook the entire cage and left a gaping hole big enough for the three penguins to go through together._

"_Move out, men!" Skipper ordered._

_They left the cage in single file, Skipper on point, Kowalski in the middle, and Rico at the rear, moving sideways so he could both look where he was going and watch their backs. The shadows were on their side; they could stick to them and easily go unnoticed if any humans rushed past. That was something that began to disturb Skipper; why were the humans moving so fast?_

_They knew they would have to pass the medical facility on their way out. As they got closer, the squeals and cries they heard from within turned their stomachs._

"_Steady, men," Skipper murmured._

"_Help! They're killing me!" the shriek rang down the hall._

"_That sounded like-" Kowalski started._

"_Blowhole," Skipper muttered._

"_Yup," Rico agreed._

_The three frowned as they glanced at each other. On one hand, why would they try to help the creature that had become their arch enemy? On the other, how could they ignore a cry for help? It just wasn't the penguin way._

_Skipper sighed. "All right, boys, even though Blowhole is our arch enemy, I can't just leave him helpless in the hands of these evil humans."_

"_But, Skipper, what if it's all part of an elaborate trap?" Kowalski asked. "The chances of that are-"_

"_Don't tell me the odds. You and Rico get out of here, I'm going in," Skipper turned to Kowalski and put his flippers on Kowalski's shoulders. "If I don't make it out, you're the leader. Keep an eye on Rico for me."_

_With that, Skipper slide away from the two and towards the door to the med lab. Kowalski stared blankly into the dark until a small smack from Rico brought him out of it._

"_Radda wah blah ra!" he grunted at Kowalski._

_Kowalski frowned momentarily before nodding. "You're right, Rico, never swim alone. Let's go!"_

_The two almost ran into Skipper as they rounded the corner and Kowalski couldn't help gagging at the sight before them._

_The dolphin was strapped down, but still struggled under the brown leather straps. Blood covered the entire side of his face, a gaping wound cut across his eye. Humans scattered around him, giving each other orders, but it seemed fairly apparent that no one knew what they were doing._

"_Good Galileo," Kowalski murmured, trying to keep the bile from rising any further than his throat._

_Rico stared openly at the chaotic scene, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth, relishing in the moment._

"_You! Get out! GET OUT!" Blowhole screeched the moment he noticed the penguins were there and his struggles became more violent._

_The humans seemed to underestimate the power of a dolphin's body, because as he thrashed, some of the straps broke and sent a nearby table flying._

"_Evasive maneuvers!" Skipper cried as he and Kowalski ducked out of the way of the flying utensils. "Rico! Move!"_

"_Huh?"_

_Rico looked up at the wrong moment as a heavy bladed object flew his way. A moment later, he dropped to the ground._

"_Rico!" Kowalski cried._

"_How'd the penguins escape?" a human yelled._

"_Abort mission! Kowalski, we have to prep Rico for evac! Move, move, move!"_

_Nets were thrown over the three before a step could be taken and they soon found themselves in another cage, smaller and dirtier than the last. The side of Rico's face was slashed; even his beak had a crack in it. He seemed a bit traumatized by it, not making a sound and very reluctant to let Kowalski look at it, though he relented when Skipper ordered him._

_The situation looked bad. They didn't have any supplies to clean their cage, Rico couldn't (or at least wouldn't) regurgitate anything, and they had not been fed or given water. Just when Skipper was ready to admit the situation looked grim, they found their world in chaos once again._

_People in dark blue uniforms burst into the aquarium. There was about an hour of shouting and humans running around like they had lost their minds, all of this made the penguins become very nervous._

"_I don't like this, Skipper," Kowalski muttered. "Things always seem to go wrong when the humans become panicky."_

"_At ease, soldier, not all humans are bad," Skipper said, trying to hear and understand what was going on._

_Then a female human stepped into the room. She was wearing a dark uniform and a silver badge was perched on one side of her chest. She had light hair pulled back into a ponytail and her bangs were only slightly in her eyes. She had a kind face, though at the moment it looked saddened, almost disappointed, as she knelt in front of the penguin's cage._

"_It will be okay, guys, you won't have to live like this anymore," she said. _

_Skipper went close to the human and looked at her badge, he couldn't read, but he recognized the grouping of letters "ASPCA" and knew that if they were to trust any human, these were the ones to trust. He turned back to his team._

"_Rest easy, boys, we're in good hands now."_

_Sure enough, Skipper was right, though the process was a little harrowing. Rico was separated from them for a while, though they could keep tabs on them and the three never seemed to be far apart for long. _

_They finally were reunited in the Central Park Zoo, where they were issued clean bills of health and a promising future. Rico seemed so happy that he didn't care about the scar that now marred the side of his face._

_Skipper immediately took it upon himself and the team to protect their new home. He felt he owed it to his team and in honor of the humans who had saved them._

* * *

Skipper positioned himself between Rico, who was still unconscious, the crazed lemur, and his brainwashed teammates.

Just how the hell was he supposed to get out of this one?

* * *

Author's Note #2: Now you see why I numbered them, heehee ^_^ I just wanted to say that the ASPCA Agent is Special Investigator Annemarie Lucas of the NYC ASPCA. I used to watch a lot of Animal Cops, and I fell in love with her and her passion for animals. I think that if I was given the proper encouragement at a younger age, I would be part of the ASPCA Law Enforcement unit.


	13. A Fight to the End

Rico wondered if he was still dreaming, because when he opened his eyes, he was sure that he was watching Skipper losing a fight against Julien, Private and Kowalski. He was also fairly certain that he was fighting Private in a hallway just a few moments ago.

But when Skipper was thrown on top of him and he felt the wind rush out of his lungs, Rico decided that this was no dream. He pushed himself up, letting Skipper slide off of him.

"I don't know what that maniac did to them, Rico," Skipper said with a cough. "I have no idea how to stop them."

Rico frowned. He had no idea either, but he stood and helped Skipper up, figuring that the two of them would have to fight off the others until a solution presented itself. Or, at least he figured that he had to fight them off, because it looked like Skipper had been doing that long enough while Rico took his time waking up.

Julien leapt at them, his eyes still red and still chuckling like crazy. He grabbed Rico by the flippers, trying to shake him, but Rico just shook his head and pushed him away.

"You have my lychee nuts! Where are my lychee nuts?!" he demanded.

So that was it! Rico remembered now! Dr. Blowhole must have known that rotten red lychee nuts would cause insanity in the lemurs and probably fed them to Julien. Rico remembered Kowalski saying something about tropical fruit counter-acting the effect and he wondered if he had anything tropical-flavored in his inventory.

Kowalski always needed gum to paste together things for his experiments, so Rico always kept quite a few different kinds around. Did he- Yes! He knew he had some that was labeled with a pineapple and coconut! He quickly coughed some up, opened the package, and shoved the gum into the lemur's mouth and clamped it shut.

"Rico, what in the world are you doing?" Skipper asked, dodging another attack by Private.

The lemur struggled, trying to claw Rico off of him, but Rico ignored it. The lemur began to chew the gum, and slowly he started to calm down. Rico watched the red in Julien's eyes disappear, and a sleepy look took their place. Rico slowly let him go and watched as he stepped back, shaking his head.

"Hmm, I'm liking this chewy gum, but what in da hecks is going on here?" Julien asked.

"Ringtail, glad to have you back! Now, do something useful!" Skipper ordered.

"I am King! You cannot order around a- hey!"

Julien was interrupted by Kowalski shoving him aside to get to Rico. Rico ducked the sloppy swipe and tackled Kowalski by the middle. The two rolled on the floor until Rico pinned Kowalski the same way that Skipper had done back in their headquarters. He knew Kowalski couldn't get out of this particular position, and he seemed to realize it, too. His struggles slowed after a moment and Rico could see a strange shift in his eyes.

Rico watched Kowalski carefully as his blue eyes seemed to dilate and return to normal, the crazed look draining in favor of a more confused look instead. Rico loosened up slightly, but regretted it when Kowalski gripped his flippers tightly.

"Uh oh," Rico muttered.

The regret lasted only a moment, though, when he realized that Kowalski wasn't trying to hurt him.

"It's an injection," Kowalski said hoarsely, his voice slightly broken. "Brainwashing, you've got to stop it."

Kowalski's body stilled and went limp, his eyes closing and his flippers slipping off of Rico. Rico jumped off of him and frowned up at Skipper, but Skipper was still busy with Private while Julien just watched, confused.

Rico looked around. He noticed that he couldn't see past the domed cage that surrounded them, and he guessed that Dr. Blowhole wasn't around; otherwise he might have intervened by now. The lights, though, Rico knew he could take them out. He poked his belly, and decided that if he aimed properly, he could propel the crowbar he usually brought with him, the spaces in the cage seemed big enough.

Gathering himself as best he could, he nearly blinded himself looking up, trying to pinpoint the source of the light before launching the crowbar from his gut. The metal object propelled upwards and found its target. They all ducked as shattered glass showered them. When Rico looked up, he could also see that a video camera was taping them and decided to take that out, too. Though, it was close enough for him to cough up his flamethrower and burn the electric device to a smoldering, melting puddle of plastic and twisted metal.

"Good work, Rico," Skipper said. "Now we just have to restrain Private and we can figure a way out of here!"

Private was still going strong and violent. Rico coughed up some rope and tackled him. Between Skipper and Rico, they had Private tied up and Rico hoped that maybe he would come to his senses and/or pass out the way Kowalski did, because it was just creepy to see Private acting the exact opposite of his calm, gentle nature.

"Okay, Rico, please tell me that you've got a way out of here," Skipper said, breathing hard.

"Where is here, by the way?" Julien asked.

Skipper just shook his head at the lemur. "Ringtail, just shut up for now."

Julien frowned, sensing something really bad had just happened and perhaps it was best for him to actually listen to Skipper for once. The lemur was also no expert at such things, but he didn't like the way Skipper was breathing.

Rico took a deep breath and chucked up a bomb bundle, the kind Skipper liked with the LED countdown timer. Skipper simply nodded at him, sitting down next to the unconscious Kowalski while Rico rigged it to the opposite side of the cage.

"Rah rah kaboom!" Rico called out, backing away.

Skipper ducked his head down and covered Kowalski's head with a flipper, Julien dove behind them all, Private still struggled and growled from his position on the floor.

Rico stood and watched the bomb go off, like he always did, still never fearing explosions.

When the smoke cleared, Rico's jaw dropped when he saw that the metal of the cage was only bent slightly. With a grunt of determination, he went to work rigging up more explosives on the spot.

"Wha-what's going on?" Private moaned.

Skipper turned to the younger penguin and simply smiled down at him. "Welcome back, Private."

Private sighed and moaned, closing his eyes. "I don't feel so well, Skipper."

Skipper pat him on the head. "Me neither."

Rico set the fuse and backed away a little further than the first time, if nothing else, in an attempt to shield the others. The explosion went off, but same as before, there wasn't much of a change besides black coating the bars.

"Aw, man," Rico sighed. He glanced over his shoulder to find his team all passed out and Julien whimpering. He sighed again.

This was becoming more and more complicated.


	14. Escape Plan

Rico paced in the cage and thankfully, Julien was silent. Rico had untied Private and tried to rouse the others, but whatever injection Kowalski had talked about really took it out of both Kowalski and Private, and fighting as long as he did, Skipper must have fell victim to exhaustion. At least Rico hoped that was it, he didn't like how Skipper sounded earlier.

Kowalski had mentioned an injection that had brainwashed them, which made sense, because there was little else that would cause him and Private to attack them the way that they did. Rico wondered what exactly it was, and how this knowledge was going to help them.

After a few moments, Rico couldn't help giving out a grunt of frustration. He didn't know what to do! He was a demolitions expert and there was nothing for him to demolish! He didn't come up with ideas and plans; that was Kowalski's job! He glanced again at the unconscious penguins and the scared lemur and wondered briefly if it would just be better to demolish them all, just to end it. He was sure the others would rather be dead than under Blowhole's control.

Rico slapped himself, knowing that Skipper or Kowalski would if they could hear his thoughts. He couldn't just give up; his team certainly never gave up on him. His mind flashed through his memories; Kowalski and Skipper had declared him as insane, but they still worked with him, his face was slashed but they never abandoned him, a bomb was about to burst in his stomach and all three had done all they could (even if it turned their own stomachs) to save his life. Rico steeled himself again with the reminder that failure was just not an option.

Rico suddenly found his mind racing, he thought back to all of the different scenarios they ran, the different missions, the tests, possibilities, options, and everything he had learned. Finally, he started taking everything into account that he found so far; that Dr. Blowhole was bent on torturing them, that was clear, through brainwashing and making them fight one another, he had to know that deep in their minds it would haunt them if they ever made it out.

"We have to get out of here."

Rico looked up to see Julien rocking back and forth, hugging his knees to his chest. He looked completely traumatized.

"Yup," Rico muttered to him. He heard something in the hall; it was probably Dr. Blowhole. Rico had melted the camera and it probably alerted to Blowhole of the situation with his prisoners. Not to mention all of the explosions.

A wild idea finally hit Rico, he knew it was going to be risky, but it was likely the only way out.

"Uh, uh!" he waved at Julien. He mimed going to sleep, but Julien only stared at him blankly. Rico growled and lifted a flipper, making it clear that he was going to slap Julien when the lemur finally understood, nodding and falling to his side and closing his eyes.

"Shh," Rico reminded him before reaching for Kowalski, who was closest, and rolling him over so he lay across Rico's stomach and Rico closed his eyes in the hopes that it looked like Kowalski had knocked him out.

Rico was correct; the noise was Dr. Blowhole and he could hear the whir of his segway as he came into the room. He heard him sigh.

"Rotten pen-gyu-ins," Blowhole muttered. "Probably was the battle of their lives and I have no proof. Hm, at least the outcome seems to be interesting."

Rico could hear something opening and he felt a breeze ruffle the feathers on his head, but he stayed completely still.

"Tsk, tsk, Rico, was it your own weakness and inability to take down your own teammate or the strength of the serum in Kowalski that was your downfall?"

Rico had to try hard to not stiffen as he felt Kowalski being moved off of him. There were some other sounds of movement, a few weak groans from the others; Rico noticed that Julien was the only one who didn't make a sound, just like him. He wanted so badly to crack an eye open, but he knew that his plan was dangerous enough and couldn't risk blowing his cover.

Rico tried to keep track of the time in his head, but it was hard to concentrate on that and the sounds around him. The silent bits bothered him, distracted by the uneven breathing from the others, and it seemed very sudden that all was silent.

But then a dolphin flipper wrapped around him, nearly making him jump. Apparently, though, he was too heavy, so Blowhole wrapped his flipper around his foot instead.

"It will be interesting to see what the serum will do to you," Dr. Blowhole said with a dark chuckle.

Rico couldn't really tell where he was being taken, but he was sure it wasn't too far, because before he could calculate anything, he felt himself drop on a hard, flat, cold surface. He couldn't help a groan, but he kept his eyes shut. He only snuck a peek when he didn't hear anything, but it didn't help too much. He only saw the back of Dr. Blowhole, but he had to quickly shut his eye again when the dolphin turned back to him.

"Hold still, Rico, this won't hurt a bit," Dr. Blowhole said with a chuckle.

Rico twisted his body around to kick the syringe out of Blowhole's hand. He stood and put his flippers up.

"What the-?!"

Rico chuckled and leapt at the dolphin, aiming his kick at Dr. Blowhole's chest, knocking him off of his segway. Rico leapt to the floor and stepped on the syringe, not minding the broken glass as he leapt again at the dolphin. They wrestled on the floor for a bit before Blowhole started yelling.

"Attack the intruder!"

Rico coughed up a thick rubber band, the kind the humans put over lobster claws. He secured it over Dr. Blowhole's mouth. The dolphin struggled indignantly, but stilled when Rico stood over him with a murderous glare.

Whether Rico was good with words or not, they were completely unnecessary. Blowhole could see the hate and anger in Rico's deep blue eyes and the message was clear.

Rico jumped off of the dolphin and looked around. It looked like he was in some sort of medical lab, he was sure Kowalski would understand the equipment around him, however Kowalski wasn't there to explain or at least give an offhanded comment about how the bad guys always got the good stuff, whatever that was.

He jumped up onto another of the surfaces and found another syringe that looked a lot like the one Blowhole was about to stick him with. Rico didn't know what it was or what would happen, but he didn't care. He jumped back down, ignoring the look of absolute horror on Blowhole's face as he lifted the syringe high above his head, ready to strike, not even caring if what was in the syringe or his technique would end the dolphin's life.

Something hard hit him in the back, sending the syringe flying across the room. Rico snapped his head around to find who would dare agitate him in his already angered state, but what he saw completely sobered him.

There were his teammates, Skipper, Kowalski, and Private, standing there with their flippers up and ready for action.

Unfortunately, Rico figured, the action would be against him.


	15. Last Flashback

Dr. Blowhole still struggled behind Rico, but that was the last thing on Rico's mind.

Rico rolled out of the way when Kowalski lunged for him, but when he got back to his feet, Skipper's foot connected with his chest, sending Rico back-peddling into Private, who gripped his flippers and tried to pull them back. Rico easily got out of his grip and grabbed Private instead, flinging him into the other two.

The three didn't seem too off-balanced by the attack and were up and ready again. Rico frowned, trying to think quickly, and coughed up his kendo stick and swung it wildly at his three teammates. Private moved forward and easily blocked all of Rico's swings.

Right, Private was able to fend off and get around Skipper's kendo attacks, what was Rico thinking?

Rico moved his attack over to Kowalski, thinking that maybe he could just knock him out and worry about him later, but Kowalski blocked the strike and gripped the stick with a sadistic smile. Rico was stilled, so used to being accused of having disturbing looks and facial expressions, now it was downright unnerving to see it on Kowalski. The taller penguin ripped the stick out of Rico's grip and easily broke it in half before throwing it aside.

"Uh, oh," Rico murmured. He was saying that all too often this day, he decided.

Kowalski and Skipper both jumped at Rico, tackling him to the ground. Between the two, they pinned him down easily. Rico looked around, wondering where Private was, and found that he was by Dr. Blowhole, taking off the rubber band. As soon as it slid off, Blowhole's maniacal laugh filled the room.

"Oh, Rico, thought you had one over on me, didn't you? You can never outwit me," Blowhole said.

Rico snarled at him, summoning up his strength to throw off Skipper and Kowalski and slid out of the room.

"After him!" he heard Blowhole bellow.

Rico had no idea where he was going to go or what he was supposed to do, and he wondered where Julien was. The three penguins he was sure he could take, but add in something as unpredictable as a crazy lemur, Rico didn't have the best of confidence in his own abilities.

He heard the slapping footsteps of his team behind him as he rounded into a room. He slammed and door shut and coughed up a screwdriver to wedge in the door, hoping it would stall them until he figured out a plan.

"Hey! Crazy-type penguin!"

Rico looked up to find Julien swinging from a cage. Unbeknownst to Rico, he was in the same room that Julien, Kowalski, and Private had woken up in. Rico sniffed the air and could tell that his teammates had been in there, but there was also an odd scent in the air that made his stomach turn. Rico wasn't sure about the truth in "smelling fear," and Kowalski had often argued the illogic in the saying, but if there was a scent to fear, Rico was sure he had just found it.

"Uhm, excuse me? Would you please be helping me out of here, yes?" Julien said. "I can't be slipping through this one so much," he also glanced down at the half-empty plastic bag that held the rest of the bad lychee nuts.

Rico nodded and coughed up a knife. He flung it up at the cage, making Julien duck though the knife never went near him, the blade instead cutting the thick rope that held the cage up. Julien screamed as the cage fell. Rico caught his knife and watched Julien crawl shakily out of the now-busted cage.

"Th-th-th-this is n-not the wuh, way-" Julien stammered, but he was cut off by a banging at the door. Julien squeaked and jumped behind Rico.

Rico sighed, hoping he was going to have more time to think of something. He glanced around the room, trying to force his mind to work at Kowalski-speed to come up with a plan. Julien's whimpers weren't helping.

"Hide," Rico ordered him.

The lemur didn't need to be told twice and he jumped off to hide behind a cabinet.

Rico turned back to the door, where he could still hear banging. He watched the door tremble and the screwdriver starting to come loose. He shoved it back into place, hoping to buy him a few more moments. He put his back to the door and gave another look around the room. He saw that there were three clear boxes on top of tables. He wondered just how sturdy they were.

Rico made his way to them, using a grappling hook to climb up. He found that these boxes were heavy, a few holes were drilled in near the top, and now that he was up on the table, he could see that there was a hinged top to the box. It was almost too heavy for Rico to lift, but he did it anyway, and the familiar scent of Kowalski hit his senses.

"_Blowhole must have held Kowalski here first,"_ Rico thought. He glanced around at the floor, because another odd scent reached him, then the red spots confirmed the coppery scent that wafted to his nostrils and the memory of Kowalski's kidnapping came back. _"Kowalski's leg, but he seems fine."_

Rico looked around at the other boxes. Another small one was in view, as a matter of fact, perfect view from where Rico was. He looked at the bigger box, and his curiosity got the better of him. He made his way over, lifted the lid, and breathed deeply.

Private's scent was mingled with Kowalski's in this box, but along with something else, something completely off and unnatural. Rico wracked his brain and it thankfully came up with the answer quickly; it was the same off scent that he could smell while he was fighting off Private and Kowalski earlier, maybe that was the scent of the injection Blowhole was giving all of them.

Rico started to try to put what he found together to find a solution. He knew whatever Blowhole was using was making them more aggressive and increased their strength, and according to Kowalski, it allowed him to brainwash the penguins. But how could he snap them out of it? Kowalski did, but would they just all pass out like him?

The door flew open and the three slide inside, looking around wildly.

"There!" Skipper said, pointing up at Rico.

Rico jumped up to the edge of the cage, still trying to decide if it was going to help him. The other three slide towards him and stood at the base of the pedestal, glaring up at him. Rico didn't fight the urge to blow a raspberry down at them.

The three started the ladder formation, and Rico didn't want to wait to see how well it was going to work (it shouldn't, as they were one penguin short). He jumped off of the cage, leaving the lid open, and started shoving it off the edge, nearly falling off with it. He peeked over the edge with a quirked smile.

It seemed that it worked; the cage did fall over the three penguins, destroying the ladder formation, but once they got back to their feet, they started lifting the cage.

Rico dropped on the top, hoping his weight was enough. If he kept them contained long enough, maybe the chemical would just run its course, they would return to normal, and pass out. He held onto the top of the cage as the three rattled it in an attempt to free themselves, but Rico sat firm.

Suddenly the motions beneath him ceased, and when Rico realized it he looked down to find the three penguins backed themselves up against one side of the box and ran full force to the opposite side.

"Oh, no," Rico murmured before he was thrown headfirst as the box toppled over.

By the time Rico got to his feet, he was surrounded by his team. He growled and put his flippers up, ready for a fight.

However, something seemed to be going on. Kowalski and Private weren't looking very steady and the violent glares were vanishing from their faces. Rico briefly wondered how many times they had received their shots and wondered if maybe they lost potency the more shots they received. It seemed to make sense, because while Private visibly wobbled on his feet and Kowalski looked as if he were being drained of his energy, Skipper didn't take his eyes off of his target.

Rico no longer had time to wonder when he was shoved against the wall of the fallen box and Skipper's flippers were flying fast and furious at him. Rico blocked, ducked, bobbed his head to keep from getting hit and finally found an opening. He coughed up a crowbar so it hit Skipper right between the eyes. It made him stumble back, there wasn't enough force behind it to cause him unconsciousness, but Rico took full opportunity of the brief pause in the struggle to try to turn the fight to his favor.

It seemed to be a stalemate, however, since Skipper was still fighting strong and Rico was doing all he could to keep up. He found himself on his back and Skipper pinning him, but Rico fought him off, determined to not give up, because he knew that Skipper would never give up on him.

* * *

**Some time ago…**

"_Kowalski, give me options," Skipper said._

_Kowalski looked blankly at his notepad, tapping on its edge, no ideas coming to mind. He frowned and shook his head slowly at Skipper._

_Skipper shook his head. "Unacceptable. You have to come up with something."_

_Kowalski nodded. "I agree. I'll see what I can do."_

_The moment Rico had arrived at the Central Park Zoo, he ducked down into the lower part of their habitat and had built himself something like a fort in one corner. It was mostly cardboard boxes and a stretch of cloth, there was a small window for him to see out of._

_The problem with this was that Rico refused to come out._

_At first, Skipper and Kowalski figured that he just needed time to himself, but when a day or two dragged out to a full week, they knew there was something wrong._

_Communicating with Rico had been a challenge since the three got together, however Rico always tried his best to form words and Skipper and Kowalski were beginning to understand his babbling better. But now, Rico barely opened his mouth. Skipper had even tried to coax him out with food, but then he noticed that Rico didn't even eat when food was left inside his fort for him._

"_Maybe it's best that we let him be," Kowalski had suggested once._

_Skipper just shook his head. "Negative, he can't stay in there forever."_

_Days passed, Skipper and Kowalski took turns talking to Rico. The process was slow, and Rico would sometime require a lot of patience and cause some frustration, but in the end, Skipper kept Rico from reverting back to the violent sociopath he was when they first met._

_Rico realized while Skipper was telling him more stories about Manfredi and Johnson that he just wasn't going to give up. As much pain Rico went through and as insecure it now made him, Skipper wasn't just going to abandon him. Rico had little experience with others, feeling that others had no problem leaving him be and he was too hard to get to know, but Skipper wouldn't let him be. That was apparent on day one._

"_Eh," Rico finally grunted when Skipper's story was becoming wilder and wilder._

"_That's exactly what Manfredi and Johnson said when- wait, Rico, did you say something?"_

_Skipper was sitting back to back with Rico, and he turned around in a flash. Rico looked over his shoulder at Skipper with a smirk of a smile and a nod._

"_Yup."_

_Rico didn't know Skipper was capable of such a wide smile._

"_Hey, welcome back, soldier," he said as he slapped Rico on the back. "Time with the humans couldn't have been that bad, could it?"_

_Rico sighed and nodded a little. "Ruh wadda rah bah, gradda wadda unf."_

_Skipper kept smiling but shook his head. "Rico, Kowalski and I would never leave one of our own behind. The Penguin Creed: Never swim alone."_

_Rico tilted his head. "Rah wah rah rah wah?"_

"_Never bathing in oil and Bisquick is the Sea Creature Creed."_

"_Did I just hear Rico speak?" Kowalski asked, lifting the flap to the only entrance of the fort._

"_Affirmative, Kowalski, we have our demolitions expert back."_

_Rico finally left his fort and allowed Kowalski to take a look at his scar. He knew Kowalski was explaining why he got such a bad scar and it had to do with how rapidly one got treated, but Rico didn't care. His mind was already moving on from the accident and currently wrapping around the true concept of being with a rookery, being part of a group. Anyone else he had ever come into contact with had no problem leaving and giving up on him, and the fact that Skipper and Kowalski (and later on, of course, Private) didn't would forever weigh heavy and warm in his heart and mind._

* * *

Rico rolled for what felt like the millionth time and finally succeeded in throwing Skipper into the wall. The leader of the penguins was disoriented and didn't get to his feet right away, but it gave Rico time to check on Kowalski and Private. They both still stood looking somewhat dumbstruck. When Rico approached them, they both stepped back into defensive position, but the looks on their faces didn't match their actions.

"Want to, but, can't," Kowalski forced out.

Private's flippers dropped and he looked ready to throw up, but instead, he lost his balance and stumbled into Kowalski. The two fell hard to the ground, Rico rushed to their sides.

"Rico? Is that you?" Private said, Rico's face swimming into his vision. "Oh, thank mercy," his eyes grew fearful. "Rico, you've got to get out! You can't let him get you, too!"

Private cried out and curled into a ball, whimpering.

Rico frowned, glancing at Kowalski for an explanation, but Kowalski looked completely out of it. He looked around the room, as if wondering where he was and what he was doing there. He looked over at Rico, and then his eyes seemed to pass through him.

"Rico, look," Kowalski murmured, before returning his gaze to the ceiling.

Rico turned to find Skipper back on his feet, though he was very unsteady. Rico knew that the fight was over when Skipper stumbled towards him, but tripped over his own feet, which only resulted in Skipper toppling over and grabbing Rico around his middle, but not bringing the bigger penguin to the ground.

Skipper looked up at Rico, who could only stare blankly down at him. What now? Was Skipper also coming off of the injection? Was this a trick?

Skipper pulled on Rico, planting his own feet down and standing as straight as he could. Rico was briefly amused at how Skipper really only came up to his chest.

"End it, Rico," Skipper whispered.

"Huh?" Rico wondered.

Skipper's eyes slipped closed and he slid towards the floor, but Rico caught him under the flippers and lowered him gently.

Rico looked at his teammates, unconscious again, but he vowed that this was the end. He wouldn't let them be injected again and he was going to send the dolphin packing and get them home.

"Is it safe to be coming out now?" Julien asked, peeking out from his hiding place.

Rico didn't answer him and started to pace, trying to think of what to do next. He wondered why Dr. Blowhole hadn't come looking for him yet. Maybe he thought that his three teammates would be too much for him this time, especially with Skipper in the fight? Surely he wasn't that foolish.

Rico wasn't going to leave anything to chance this time. He coughed up the crowbar and handed it to Julien. Julien's breath hitched as he took the tool.

"What is it you be expecting me to be doing with this?" he asked incredulously.

Rico made a swinging motion.

"You cannot be being serious," Julien murmured.

"Hmph, errr radda wah," Rico grumbled at him.

Julien whimpered. "Yes, sir."

Rico took another last look down at his team before he left the room, making sure he shut the door. He knew that if anyone came looking for the others, they needed all the help they could get.

Rico swallowed hard; maybe leaving Julien to defend them wasn't the brightest of ideas.


	16. Rico Strikes

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rico sniffed around, trying to follow Dr. Blowhole's scent, hoping to find the dolphin and take him out. There didn't seem to be any sign of him in the halls, Rico even ventured up to the first hallway where Skipper got captured.

He poked his head cautiously into the hall. It was mostly dark now. A light came from the room he knew was the chemistry lab. He saw a shadow pass over the door and he decided to investigate.

Sure enough, there was the dolphin, scooting around the room in his segway, carrying tubes, bottles and vials of different colored liquids. He was looking at clipboards that were propped up, a board on the wall was full of scribbles and symbols that Rico couldn't begin to comprehend, he wasn't even sure that Kowalski would understand them. Rico was sure that Dr. Blowhole was making another batch of chemicals for the injections, maybe even perfecting them.

Rico knew he had to act fast. He didn't know how close to completion the dolphin was, so every second counted. He decided that it was time he played his card as the demolitions expert.

He worked quickly; calculating how many explosives he had on hand, what the damage would be, and how far he would have to be when it all went off, everything. Once he had it all together and ready, he knew that he needed something else, something to contain and direct the main explosion that he hoped would destroy the chemical lab.

Rico went peeking into the other rooms, he knew he saw cages in the other rooms and figured that the metal in the cages would be enough to help with his plan.

The room was dark, so Rico had to cough up a flashlight to help him see. Sure enough, in one corner was a cage that was a little beaten up, but he was sure it would do.

When Rico got closer to the cage, something happened. A flash in his head of a memory, he was sure what the memory was, but why was it coming to him now?

Rico looked closer at the cage and noticed that it was damaged on one side. A hole was blown in the side of the cage. It was the one Rico was imprisoned in when he first arrived at the aquarium.

Suddenly, old, almost lost, bad memories of his life before ran through his mind. The fear, the pain, the distrust, the struggle, all of it bombarded him at once.

Steeling himself, Rico shook off the memories with a smirk. This was meant to be, the cage that held the old him would be an instrument of getting him and his team out and put a final end to what he knew as his past.

Rico pulled the mangled cage into the hall, carefully setting the explosives in it and positioning it carefully. He wasn't Kowalski, but he figured that the blast would be enough to destroy all the glass in the chemical lab, possibly set some of the more flammable material on fire, and effectively trap Dr. Blowhole. Maybe if he was lucky, the dolphin wouldn't come back out alive.

All Rico really cared about was that this was going to be one of the coolest explosions ever.

The trap was set, the explosives were ready, Rico set the fuse and took back off towards his team as fast as he could. By the time he reached the door to the second hallway, he could feel the floor rock with the explosion, he could feel the heat as he opened the door, and heard a scrap of a high-pitched scream as he slammed it shut.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rico waddled back into the room he left everyone in and was welcomed by a shriek from Julien, who brandished his weapons with shaky hands.

"Please, not to be hitting me!" he cried.

"Wazzup," Rico said to him.

Julien opened one eye slightly and then dropped the weapon with a sigh of relief.

"Thank the Sky Spirits," he murmured. "What are we to be doing now, crazy-type penguin?"

Rico wanted to glare at him for the remark, would it really kill the lemur to know their names? However, Rico knew that it was the end and he couldn't bring himself to care about something so insignificant. Instead, he looked around and wondered how he was going to get his team home.

He had another busted cage at his disposal, as well as the plastic box he had dropped earlier. There were cabinets and counters, but not much else. How in the world was Rico going to transport three unconscious penguins?

Rico knew he had some rope and a pair of roller-skates left, with those he figured he could make a cart of some kind. He went to work, tearing apart the plastic box so he had one flat piece on its own. He set it atop the roller-skates and hoped that with the weight of the others on top that it would all hold together.

Rico then went to work setting the three on top of his make-shift cart. They were squeezed on for the most part, and Rico secured them with a length of rope, leaving enough slack so that he could pull the cart along.

He waved Julien over and indicated him to push while he pulled. Julien protested at first, but Rico's tired look was enough to silence him.

They got out to the hallway, it was a slow process, and as they went, Rico couldn't help but think of how exactly were they going to get home? The subway tunnels were long and dangerous, and at this rate it was going to take them weeks to get back to Central Park.

Rico lead them back to the first hallway, knowing it was at least an opening to the outside. He dropped the rope when he looked down the hall.

"Whoa," he murmured.

"What the-?" Julien couldn't help saying.

There was a hole where the explosion took place, debris blocked the hall but blew off the roof. The beginning of dawn was starting to creep in.

"Skipper? Skipper! Skipper, can you hear me!" a familiar voice called inside.

"Kah radda!" Rico called out, wondering who it was.

A flurry or orange and red feathers fell form the hole and landed gracefully on the rubble. It was Kitka!

"Oh my, what happened?" Kitka asked.

"I am not knowing anymore, can we go home now, please?" Julien whimpered.

Kitka part-ran and part-flew over to them, giving Rico a once-over and then moving on to look at the three unconscious penguins.

"Not to worry, I can get you all back to the zoo. I was so worried," Kitka explained.

She looked back down the hall and screeched. Rico was almost bowled over by all the commotion that was suddenly before him – at least fifty falcons poured into the hall, making a nervous Rico back up protectively and Julien to try to squeeze under the cart.

"Don't worry, I promise they won't eat anyone," Kitka said sincerely. "We have a basket outside waiting for you all. Everyone here is a falcon that has my complete trust. We will get you safe back to the zoo, I swear on my life."

Rico didn't like the idea. He looked back at Skipper's still form, wondering what he would do. Sure, he would be somewhat blinded by Kitka's beauty even now, however, he would do what was best for his team. Rico figured that if Skipper trusted Kitka, then that was good enough for him. He nodded, but didn't let the rope slip from his flipper.

It took a little more time to lift them all out of the hallway, but as Kitka promised, the falcons were helpful, the basket was large enough to accommodate them all, the falcons were attached with ropes, so like some strange hot-air balloon, they were soon on their way back to Central Park.

Rico watched Julien curl up and doze off and spent a moment envying him a bit. Rico was so tired, but he knew that the mission wasn't over, not quite yet.

He was relieved when they made it back to Central Park Zoo safely. One of the falcons lifted the sleeping Julien and deposited him safely in his habitat, where Mort and Maurice were waiting eagerly for their king's return. The four penguins were left on their island, and while the other falcons flew off back to their homes, Kitka remained behind.

"Why?" Rico croaked out at her.

"Skipper believed in me when others would not. I can't imagine this world without the four of you," Kitka said. "I don't know what you all just went through, maybe one day you'll be able to tell me, but for now I am relieved to know that you all made it back safely. Take care of your team."

With that, Kitka flew off and disappeared into the morning New York sky.

Rico waited until he knew the sky was free of the predatory birds before sliding the fishbowl over. He carefully took his teammates down into their home and put them into their beds, covering them snugly with their blankets, and then he shut the fishbowl entrance. He knew that he should probably sleep, too, but he was almost afraid to fall asleep, as if they would all be gone if he did.

So Rico kept himself busy. The zoo was open, so Rico had to set out the plush penguins to please the crowds, though he was thankful that it was Senior Citizens Day so therefore no one seemed to notice that the penguins were moving a bit robotically, and that the lemurs were less active than usual.

Marlene had dropped by, asking Rico what had happened, but he just shook his head and waved a flipper at her and thankfully Marlene didn't pry any further.

Rico didn't think closing time could come any sooner and was so tired now that he nearly tripped as he got himself down the ladder. He eagerly looked at his team, and though they looked a little more like they were actually sleeping and not the sickened, passed-out type of sleep, Rico breathed a small sigh of relief.

He went to work preparing dinner, in case they all woke up, but when he was done they were still silent. He left the food, taking none for himself, and spent the next few hours tidying up and then resorted to pacing. A sick feeling swam in his stomach all day, and now the feeling was spreading through his body like a virus.

A groan from their beds broke Rico out of his spell and he rushed over, his growing nausea forgotten. He could see Skipper moving around on his bunk, kicking himself free of the blanket.

"What happened? Rico? Kowalski? Private?" he muttered.

"Rah! Rah!" Rico said excitedly from the ground, hopping up and down.

Skipper looked down and smiled at Rico. "Yeah, I'm okay, old buddy."

He jumped down from his bed, but winced when he hit the ground. Rico frowned; Skipper was not okay.

"Just a little sore, Rico, maybe a broken rib, nothing I can't handle," Skipper assured him when Rico looked at him worriedly.

"Wha- where am I?" Private muttered.

"Are we dead?" Kowalski asked, he looked down at Skipper and Rico and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, no, we are not, unless?" he frowned down at Rico.

Rico shook his head. "Uh, uh."

Private and Kowalski got out of bed as well and Rico was ecstatic to see his team back to normal.

"What happened to us?" Private asked.

"And how did we get back here?" Kowalski wondered.

"What about that nasty wound on your leg, Kowalski?" Skipper asked.

Kowalski looked down with a frown. "I was wondering why my leg felt weird."

"It looks pretty bad, does it hurt much?" Private asked.

"No, not really."

Rico frowned slightly. As his team talked, it started to sound like they were moving further and further away. Also, they had just had probably one of, if not the most, traumatic experience of their lives and it was as if they didn't remember it. Rico started to wonder why everything was starting to look fuzzy, but the thought was gone as he felt the ground beneath his feet spin suddenly.

"Rico? Are you-"

Rico fell back, helpless, as the soft, dark embrace of exhaustion finally claimed him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	17. Epilogue

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Epilogue**

Rico woke up with a grunt and three pairs of penguin eyes watching him quite anxiously.

"Rico! You're awake!" Private said with a huge smile.

"Welcome back, compadre," Skipper said with a smirk.

"How do you feel?" Kowalski asked.

"_Me? __**Me**__?! What about the three of __**you**__?!?_" Rico wanted to shout at them.

But, instead, Rico rolled out of his bed, looking between the three. He frowned at them a little; he was fine, he felt fine at any rate, but, what happened to him? One moment he was relieved that the three made it though their ordeal alive, next thing he knew, he was waking up. Was all of it a nightmare?

"Wah radda guh?" Rico mumbled.

"Not sure, actually," Private said.

"You just sort of passed out," Kowalski said. "It was as if you hadn't slept in days. So, we put you to bed, and here we are. It's about ten o'clock in the morning."

Skipper crossed his flippers. "I'm thinking something did happen to us. The last thing I remember was that lobster habitat."

"That's strange, me too," Kowalski agreed.

"Me too!" Private chipped in.

Rico shook his head. He couldn't believe it. They didn't remember? Was it really a nightmare, just his own insane mind twisting things around? He looked down at Kowalski's leg and saw a bandage wrapped around it. Rico nearly tackled Kowalski as he fell onto his belly to inspect the bandage closer.

"Uhm, Rico?" Kowalski said nervously. "What are you doing?"

Rico sniffed at the bandage, it was from their own first aid kit, but he could smell the wound underneath it. He stood with a wide smile; so it wasn't a nightmare, it did happen.

Skipper looked at Rico with a slight, worried frown. "You sure you're okay there, buddy?"

Rico stood and flashed his smile and giggled at them. His team was alive, and they didn't remember what happened. It was best, he decided, because he was sure the knowledge would just cause more trouble and they didn't need that.

Later, Rico found that Julien seemed to have written off the whole ordeal as a bad dream and put it out of his head, another plus in Rico's book.

So life for the penguins returned to normal, or at least as normal as it was for them. Rico was left wondering if Dr. Blowhole survived his attack, and if he did, would he come after them again? Rico slightly feared the repercussions of not explaining what had happened, but he knew that if that dolphin ever did rear his ugly head towards them again, that Rico would stand proud, confident, and unafraid with his team to defeat him once more.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Author's Note_

Well, here we are at the end of Chemical Reaction ^_^ Just to elaborate since Kowalski doesn't remember and won't be able to analyze for us, the temporary amnesia the three are suffering is a side-effect of the chemicals that Blowhole created.

So, see, as promised, Rico's okay, just staying awake for a couple of days and undergoing so much stress takes it out on a critter XD I hope everyone has enjoyed and hopefully will be able to post another fic soon!


End file.
